įollowing the outbreak of World War II, Hobbs Army Airfield was built north of town in 1942. On June 23, 1938, seven local men were killed and five more injured when an explosive charge used in oil drilling detonated prematurely. A few years later, though, activity picked up in the oilfields and the population climbed to about 14,000 in 1940. When the Great Depression hit, oil prices dropped and the population fell to only about 3,000 in 1931. At the peak of this oil boom, over 12,000 people lived in Hobbs. A refinery was built the following year, and in 1929, the town of Hobbs was officially incorporated. The small, isolated settlement expanded rapidly following the discovery of oil by the Midwest Oil Company in 1927. By 1911, about 25 landowners lived in Hobbs. In 1910, the Hobbs post office opened, with James Hobbs as the first postmaster. Hobbs was founded in 1907 when James Isaac Hobbs (1852–1923) established a homestead and named the settlement. Hobbs is the principal city of the Hobbs, New Mexico micropolitan statistical area, which includes all of Lea County. Its population was 40,508 at the 2020 census, increasing from 34,122 in 2010. Hobbs is a city in Lea County, New Mexico, United States.
