Welcome to Elkins ...
So far, we found very little information about Elkins. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>
We've added Elkins to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Elkins, please Contact Us.
Elkins would have been located within present day Chaves County<2>.
The location of Elkins has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<3>
While we don't have a date for the founding of Elkins, you might consider that their post office opened in 1907.
While the community is gone, the present day location for Elkins is 4,020 feet [1,225 m] above sea level.<4> In other words, the altitude of Elkins is about ¾ mile [or ~1¼ km] above sea level.
Time Zone: The area where Elkins was located is in the Mountain Time Zone (MST/MDT) and observes daylight saving time
Note: If you travel east from Elkins, you will leave Mountain Time and cross into the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT).
The location where Elkins once stood is in the (575) area code.
Communities Also Named Elkins ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are two New Mexico communities named Elkins: This one is located in Chaves County and the other is located in Colfax County.
Beyond New Mexico, there are 10 communities that are also named Elkins - they are located in Arkansas (2), Louisiana, New Hampshire, Tennessee (3), Virginia and West Virginia.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Elkins.
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Elkins. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Elkins.
We have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Elkins. See our Newspapers Page for Elkins.
Adding Elkins to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Elkins in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Elkins was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<5>
From that list, the Elkins post office opened in 1907.
For more details, see References and Mentions for Elkins.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Chaves County: www.co.chaves.nm.us/
The official website for State of New Mexico: www.newmexico.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Elkins, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | If you're interested in how the shape of New Mexico's counties, including Chaves, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <3> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Elkins - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <5> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |