Tatum, New Mexico was founded in 1909 and is located in northern Lea County. Here are some facts about the history of Tatum, New Mexico

Tatum, the crossroads on the high plains, began with the arrival of James Green Tatum August 9, 1909. Mr. Tatum along with his wife Mattie and daughter Martha James made the trip from San Antonio to Roswell and traveled by wagon and team across the Pecos River to reach his 320 acre homestead on the Llano Estacado.

James Tatum had been in the mercantile business and hoped to take advantage of the need for supplies that existed in the area. Numerous settlers had begun to come into the area and this made an ideal site for a general store. The Tatum General Mercantile Company was born and an application for a post office soon followed. Three names were submitted to the Washington Postal Department – Tatum, Martha James and Bilderback (another early settler that came in 1910). The Tatum Post Office permit was granted in 1909 and Mrs. Mattie Tatum was the first postmaster.

In the operation of his store, Mr. Tatum had to make long freight hauling trips to Roswell or Elida. At times these trips would take two weeks. Meanwhile it was up to Mrs. Tatum to deliver and pick up mail besides running the general store.

By 1912 the Tatum School District had been formed. Dr. Charles Bridges, O. M. Daniel, and E. J. Fox traveled to Roswell to establish the school. Because funds were desperately needed for the building, box suppers and rodeos were held to raise the money. $400.00 was raised to pay for the building materials that were hauled from Elida in wagons. The school patrons donated their labor and James Tatum donated the two acres for that first white two-story schoolhouse. The first term began in 1912 with Miss Belle Norton as the teacher. The students included Anita Bridges, Willie, Mattie, and Earl Daniel, Robert and Lowell Fox, Dana Howard, Joseph James, Lambert Eaton, Lydia and Earl Seals and Mary London.

Tatum’s first doctor arrived in 1911. Dr. D. C. Bridges arrived with his wife who was in frail health and he filed on a homestead claim. Dr. Ruff arrived the following year to set up his practice.

Many of the smaller outlying schools consolidated with the Tatum District including Warren, Ranger Lake, McDonald, King, Bagley, Collum, Caprock, Mescalero, High Top, Gladiola, Crossroads and Pitchfork. By 1920 a new eight room school was built. In the early days of the school, church services were also held there. Reverend J. W. Allen held the first service for the Methodist Church.

By 1912, J. W. (Mood) Smith and his family had established the first drug store while W. H. Anderson put in the first hardware store in 1914. The Tatum State Bank was organized in 1916 by W. H. Anderson, M. R. Anderson, Jim Anderson, Ott Anderson, and George Bilderback. The Plains Democrat was published by J. U. Williams in 1917 and Tatum had a newspaper. Tatum could boast a hotel opened by C. P. Byles in 1915 and a blacksmith shop in 1913 with J. J. Seals as owner.

Tom Howard James brought the first telephone system to the Tatum Community in 1912. The party-line central switchboard style was located in the Tom Bess home and Georgia Bess and her daughter Jewell were the operators. Phone lines ran along the tops of fence wire and were attached to the fence posts.

Tatum Power and Light was established in the early 1920s bringing electricity to the area. A diesel plant with two engines generated about fifty kilowatts of power and you were never certain about the reliability of the system. If you could hear the hum of the engine you could get electricity, otherwise you were out of luck!

From its pioneer beginning as the center of the LIttlefield Cattle Company’s Four Lakes Ranch, Tatum has become a modern and close-knit community whose economy still depends on good ranch land and abundant water.

Tatum is a town in Lea County, New Mexico, United States.

The population was 798 at the 2010 census, up from 683 in 2000.

Geography

Tatum is located in northern Lea County. U.S. Route 380 passes through the town, leading west 72 miles (116 km) to Roswell and east 30 miles (48 km) to Plains, Texas. New Mexico State Road 206 crosses US 380 in the center of Tatum, leading north 65 miles (105 km) to Portales and south 22 miles (35 km) to Lovington, the Lea county seat.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Tatum has a total area of 1.6 square miles (4.1 km²), of which 0.01 square miles (0.02 km²), or 0.47%, are water.

Climate

According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Tatum has a cold semi-arid climate, abbreviated "BSk" on climate maps. The hottest temperature recorded in Tatum was 115 °F (46.1 °C) on June 28, 1994, while the coldest temperature recorded was −16 °F (−26.7 °C) on January 11, 1962, and January 13, 1963.

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Climate data for Tatum, New Mexico, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1919–2016

Demographics

Historical population

CensusPop.Note

%±1950688—19601,16869.8%1970982−15.9%1980896−8.8%1990768−14.3%2000683−11.1%201079816.8%2020706−11.5%U.S. Decennial Census

As of the census of 2000, there were 683 people, 267 households, and 194 families residing in the town. The population density was 578.8 inhabitants per square mile (223.5/km²). There were 391 housing units at an average density of 331.3 per square mile (127.9/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 65.45% White, 1.02% African American, 0.59% Native American, 0.15% Pacific Islander, 30.31% from other races, and 2.49% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 37.34% of the population.

There were 267 households, out of which 31.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.0% were married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.3% were non-families. 25.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 28.1% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 23.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.6 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $28,833, and the median income for a family was $33,393. Males had a median income of $31,111 versus $19,750 for females. The per capita income for the town was $11,728. About 16.6% of families and 18.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.8% of those under age 18 and 21.6% of those age 65 or over.