BlockBefore

Maxwell, New Mexico

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1915 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Springer census division. It lies in ZIP code area 87728. It stands on Spring Arroyo. The Survey maps it on the Maxwell quadrangle. 224 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 5,925 feet above sea level.

Maxwell within Colfax County

Population over time

2 figures

Maxwell fell from 254 to 224 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
2010254
2020224-30 (-12%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 11 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

27 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 27 fires within 5 miles of Maxwell between 1993 and 2020, burning about 1,044 acres in total. 4 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined11
Equipment and vehicle use8
Natural4
Smoking3
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
29 September 2015Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionMM 425
7 July 2014Naturalunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionHELLS CANYON
22 July 2016Natural14 acresCimarron DistrictFM HILL
22 July 2016Natural2.0 acresCimarron DistrictTANK
13 July 2020Natural385 acresCimarron DistrictCIMARRON SOLAR
9 June 1998Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionMAXWELL
27 June 2013Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionI-25 II
26 June 2013Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionI-25

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Colfax County

Mines and quarries near this place

7 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Maxwell: 7 unknowns. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Materals PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Materials PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown

Every working recorded in Colfax County

Storms near this place

44 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Maxwell in 44 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 35 hail, 4 tornado, 2 funnel cloud, 2 thunderstorm wind. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2015Thunderstorm WindMaxwell$25,000Four 35 ft power poles and one 60 ft pole blown down from wet microburst along State Road 505.
June 2014HailMaxwell$10,000Large hail resulted in broken windows and car damage. Report received via Twitter.
August 2025HailMaxwell-A trained spotter in Maxwell, NM relayed reports from Facebook of half-dollar size hail from a severe thunderstorm just north of Maxwell passing over I-25.
July 2023HailMaxwell-Dime to quarter size hail fell near the Maxwell National Wildlife Refuge.
June 2023HailMaxwell-A trained spotter reported penny size hail along with minor flooding in their yard below their chicken coop from two inches of rainfall. No damage was reported.
June 2023HailMaxwell-Half dollar sized hail fell in Maxwell as a cell moved northeast.
May 2021Tornado (EF0)Maxwell-A severe thunderstorm near Maxwell produced twin tornadoes. One tornado was a mesocyclonic tornado while the second tornado was a landspout. No damage was reported.
August 2021HailMaxwell-A trained spotter near Maxwell reported quarter size hail from a brief severe thunderstorm that tracked southeast through the area.
July 2021HailMaxwell-One inch hail was reported from a severe thunderstorm near Maxwell.
May 2021Tornado (EF0)Maxwell-A severe thunderstorm near Maxwell produced twin tornadoes. One tornado was a mesocyclonic tornado while the second tornado was a landspout. No damage was reported.
May 2020HailMaxwell-Nickel size hail reported with a slow-moving thunderstorm along I-25 near Maxwell.
May 2020HailMaxwell-Quarter size hail reported with a slow-moving thunderstorm near I-25 south of Maxwell.
May 2020HailMaxwell-Quarter size hail reported with a slow-moving thunderstorm along I-25 south of Maxwell.
June 2019HailMaxwell-Nickel size hail in Maxwell.
August 2018HailMaxwell-Hail up to the size of golf balls covering the ground northwest of Maxwell.
August 2018HailMaxwell-Hail up to the size of pennies partially covering the ground northwest of Maxwell.
June 2015HailMaxwell-NSSL SHAVE passed along report of quarter size hail near Maxwell.
June 2015HailMaxwell-New Mexico Department of Transportation reported 1 inch of quarter size hail fell along interstate 25 between Maxwell and Raton. Snow trucks were brought out to plow hail off the road.
June 2015HailMaxwell-Penny size hail.
June 2015HailMaxwell-COOP Observer reported quarter size hail fell with heavy rain during the early afternoon.
August 2015HailMaxwell-Pea to quarter size hail fell in Maxwell while lightning knocked out power.
June 2014HailMaxwell-Maxwell.
June 2014Funnel CloudMaxwell-Funnel cloud reported between Springer and Maxwell.
June 2014Tornado (EF0)Maxwell-Motorists along Interstate 25 near Maxwell reported to the Raton police dispatch that a brief tornado touched down near the highway. No damage reported.
July 2013FloodMaxwell-A trained spotter in association with KRTN Radio in Raton reported and showed photos of flooding near Maxwell, NM. Over 3 was reported to have fallen in parts of town with drainages running full. Irrigation ponds north of town were also filled with up to 12 of standing water in nearby agricultural fields. No flooding issues were reported on major roadways, but local unpaved roads were turned into creeks along with the fields as water collected in low spots. An initial isolated cell developed over the location around 12:30pm and after that training cells went over the location for the next couple hours. By 5:00pm, flooding had occurred throughout the area.
May 2013HailMaxwell-Nickel size reported with rain 11 miles west southwest of Maxwell.
May 2012HailMaxwell-Hail accumulated along a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 25 with biggest hail stones up to 1.50 inches in diameter.
August 2009Thunderstorm WindMaxwell-Several customers at the Texaco truck stop and a county sheriff estimated wind gusts around 60 mph.
July 2006HailMaxwell-A severe thunderstorm produced a swath of copious hail along Interstate 25 near Maxwell. Hail as large as pennies covered the highway 5 to 6 inches deep which required a call out of road plows.
June 1999HailMaxwell-State Police report zero visibility in pounding nickel size hail at I-25 Rest Stop north of Maxwell.
June 1997HailMaxwell-State Police reported 1 inch hail in Maxwell.
October 1997Tornado (F0)Maxwell-A small tornado was observed near Maxwell.
August 1993HailMaxwell-Thunderstorms produced quarter-size hail in Raton at 1415 MST and dime-size hail in Maxwell at 1450 MST. Thunderstorms redeveloped in Colfax County later, producing a hail storm that lasted about 40 minutes in the Springer area. Baseball-size hail damaged about 55 state vehicles at the New Mexico Boys School just northwest of Springer. Eleven building sustained roofing, window or ventilation damage, including the Trades center, in which all 22 overhead skylights were broken. The storm caused many branches and limbs to break away from trees, littering the campus. School officials estimate the total damage to exceed $500,000.
June 2014HailMaxwell-no account filed
August 2009HailMaxwell-no account filed
May 2005HailMaxwell-no account filed
June 2004HailMaxwell-no account filed
June 2004HailMaxwell-no account filed
June 2004HailMaxwell-no account filed
August 2004HailMaxwell-no account filed
June 2003HailMaxwell-no account filed
June 2002HailMaxwell-no account filed
June 2002Funnel CloudMaxwell-no account filed
May 1996HailMaxwell-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Colfax County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
French4.6 miles8
Schomberg7.2 miles8
Toril10.8 miles8
Colfax11.1 miles11
Tinaja11.3 miles8
Springer12.6 miles8
Hebron14.3 miles8
Koehler14.4 miles11

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on MaxwellAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2480876The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 891692. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.