Springer is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in Colfax County,

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, United States. Its population was 1,047 at the 2010 census.

History

In 1877, William T Thornton, representing the

Maxwell Land Grant The Maxwell Land Grant, also known as the Beaubien-Miranda Land Grant, was a Land grants in New Mexico and Colorado, Mexican land grant in Colfax County, New Mexico, and part of adjoining Las Animas County, Colorado. This 1841 land grant wa ...

and Railway Company commissioned Melvin Whitson Mills to "sell, locate, survey, map and plat, and lay out town site, no exceeding three hundred and twenty acres". Judge Mills selected a location along the Cimarron called Las Garzas and laid out the townsite and graded the streets. The Maxwell Land Grand and Railway Company conveyed the deed to Mills on March 31, 1880. The deed bequeathed the town Maxwell, but by 1883 according to the deed for the Mills Mansion, it was named Springer after two brothers: Charles Springer, a rancher near Cimarron and brother Frank, a lawyer and official of the Maxwell Land Grant Company.Pearce, T.M.,editor, ''New Mexico Place Names, A Geographical Dictionary'', University of New Mexico Press 1965. The town was the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Colfax County from 1882—1897 and keeps the former Courthouse as a museum. The location was chosen due to anticipation of the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at vario ...

coming and as it was halfway between the Mountain Branch and

Cimarron Cutoff The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, t ...

of the

Santa Fe Trail The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, the ...

. The Springer Correctional Center, operated by the

New Mexico Corrections Department The New Mexico Corrections Department (NMCD; ) is a state agency of New Mexico, headquartered in unincorporated area, unincorporated Santa Fe County, New Mexico, Santa Fe County, near Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe. It the department operates co ...

, is located northwest of Springer. The correctional center is one of New Mexico's oldest detention facilities, having begun operation in 1909 as the New Mexico Boys' School.

Geography

Springer is located in southern Colfax County in the valley of the Cimarron River, west of where that river flows into the

Canadian River The Canadian River is the longest tributary of the Arkansas River in the United States. It is about long, starting in Colorado and traveling through New Mexico, the Texas Panhandle, and Oklahoma. The drainage area is about .Interstate 25 Interstate 25 (I-25), also known as the Pan-American Freeway, is a major Interstate Highway in the western United States. It is primarily a north–south highway, serving as the main route through New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. I-25 st ...

passes along the west side of the town, with access from exits 412 and 414. I-25 leads north to Raton, the

, and southwest to

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. The western terminus of U.S. Routes 56 and

412 __NOTOC__ Year 412 ( CDXII) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Europe as the Year of the Consulship of Honorius and Theodosius (or, less frequently, year 1165 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denom ...

is in the center of Springer. The two routes together lead east to Clayton. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, Springer has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 1,285 people, 520 households, and 372 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 605 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 79.46%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1.09% Native American, 14.94% from other races, and 4.51% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 69.96% of the population. There were 520 households, out of which 33.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.2% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 14.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.3% were non-families. 26.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.86. In the town, the population was spread out, with 25.9% under the age of 18, 5.2% from 18 to 24, 25.1% from 25 to 44, 22.3% from 45 to 64, and 21.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.7 males. The median income for a household in the town was $27,850, and the median income for a family was $34,563. Males had a median income of $24,479 versus $19,000 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $14,606. About 14.9% of families and 16.6% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 28.0% of those under age 18 and 8.9% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

* Fred Graham - athlete and actor * Antonio M. Fernandez - member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

, 1943 - 1956 *

Ernest Medina Ernest Lou Medina (August 27, 1936 – May 8, 2018) was a captain of infantry in the United States Army. He served during the Vietnam War. He was the commanding officer of Company C, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry of the 11th Brigade, Americal D ...

- former infantry

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

Antoun Saadeh Antoun Saadeh (; 1 March 1904 – 8 July 1949) was a Lebanese politician, sociologist, philosopher and writer who founded the Syrian Social Nationalist Party. Life and career Early life Saadeh was born in 1904 in Dhour El Choueir, in the Mo ...

- Lebanese politician and founder of the

Syrian Social Nationalist Party The Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP; ) is a Syrian nationalist party operating in Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. It advocates the establishment of a Greater Syrian nation state spanning the Fertile Crescent, including present-day Syria, Leb ...

References

External links

Springer Municipal Schools

Springer Economic Development
{{authority control Towns in Colfax County, New Mexico Towns in New Mexico