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Spade Texas School 2011Photo: Leaflet · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History · Spade

Spade’s post office opened in 1935, and 40% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1957 on and the census since 2000.

1935first post office
0on the National Register
40%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Leaflet · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Spade began

When was Spade founded?

1935

The Spade post office opened in 1935, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 100 in 20002020 census: 7191 years
Founding year: the first Spade post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Spade’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Spade are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Spade’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Spade’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Spade came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Spade.

Read it all →

Spade was named for its location on the former Spade Ranch. J. Frank Norfleet, ranch foreman, married and brought his wife to headquarters near the present townsite in 1894. The townsite was founded in 1924 when farmers began settling on former ranchland. A store and a cotton gin were built in 1931, which became the nucleus of the community. A post office was secured in 1935 and by 1940 Spade had two churches, six businesses, and 200 people. Spade has its own water system that draws on the underlying Ogallala Aquifer.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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On the map

Spade on the map, 1957 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Spade. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Spade on the 1957 USGS mapSpade on the 1976 USGS mapSpade on the 1985 USGS map1957Anton sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Spade.

People over time

Spade, census by census

010020002020Peak: 100

Between 71 and 100 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Spade’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Spade

Nobody well known was born in Spade itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Buddy HollyAmerican rock and roll singer · b. 1936
Chace CrawfordAmerican actor · b. 1985
Waylon JenningsAmerican country musician · b. 1937
C
Conrad VernonAmerican film and television director, storyboa… · b. 1968
Trae YoungAmerican basketball player · b. 1998
Natalie MainesAmerican singer; lead vocalist for Dixie Chicks · b. 1974

Questions about Spade’s history

What year was Spade founded?

The Spade post office opened in 1935, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.