Springer, NM

Springer is a town in southern Colfax County, New Mexico, in the valley of the Cimarron River six miles west of its meeting with the Canadian River. The 2020 census counted 931 residents. Interstate 25 runs along the west side of town, with exits 412 and 414 connecting Springer to Raton, Las Vegas, and the northern New Mexico plains. The former Colfax County Courthouse now serves as a museum, and the town remains part of the Santa Fe Trail country.

Springer was laid out in 1877 by Melvin Whitson Mills for the Maxwell Land Grant and Railway Company. The site was chosen with the railroad and the nearby Mountain Branch and Cimarron Cutoff of the Santa Fe Trail in mind. Springer became the Colfax County seat from 1882 to 1897, and the courthouse preserves that county-government chapter. The old building later held a reform school, municipal offices, and a library before becoming a museum. Springer is a small New Mexico town where a river valley, interstate, railroad plans, and a territorial courthouse still line up.