The Village of Roy was first settled in the late 1800s a few miles west of town. This town was two miles west of the present site.  It was moved to the present site to be near the Southern Pacific Railroad which was accommodating the many homesteaders moving into file on claims of land.   The town took its name from Frank Roy, the first postmaster.  Actually it was established by Frank and William Roy in 1901.  The Dawson Railway was constructed through the area in 1906 to link Tucumcari to the coal fields in Dawson, NM.  The present town was not located until 1916 when the Southern Pacific Railroad built out of Tucumcari.  At this time, the boom raised the population to a thousand and it looked as if it would continue but it leveled off as did so many others, even disappearing completely.

Named for it's founders, the Roy brothers, the Village was not incorporated until 1916, and has always functioned on an elected Mayor and Council form of government.

During the 1920's and '30s, dry ice was produced here because the down overlies the Bravo Dome carbon dioxide field.  Roy was a central shipping point for beans, wheat, cream and eggs until the Dust Bowl ended most farming in the 1930s.  Roy's main streets are lined with buildings from an earlier era, like the redbrick Floersheim Mercantile Co.  Incorporated in 1897, it was one of the largest mercantile enterprises in northern New Mexico.

Music was a big part of the local social life.  Roy's claim to fame is that Bob Wills wrote the song "San Antonio Rose" while a resident here in 1927.  Bob worked as a barber during the day in Roy and played with a dance band at night.  The barber played the fiddle and was something of a composer.  Wills' signature "ahh-ha" would bring Roy's one local policeman running to make them keep the noise down.   He wrote a song called "Spanish Two-Step", which fit the style of dancing most popular here, and this song later became the famous "San Antonio Rose".  The late Roy self played in a band with the town barber. After two years as a full-time barber and part-time musician, James Robert Wills moved to Tulsa, shortened his name to Bob and renamed his tune "San Antonio rose." 

Also, Tommy McDonald, now in the Football Hall of Fame, began his football playing career at Roy High School.

  In its heyday, it was quite a trading center especially when the Ilfeld and Floersheim stores were in full operation, and Karl Guthmann was receiving wide publicity with his Roy Record.  Roy was in the homestead area which held to make it a trading center for large business houses.  There were years of plenty and years of drought, but the years of drought far outweighed the years of plenty that the dry land farmer had to look elsewhere for his livelihood.  The exodus was not immediately apparent but gradual.  With the population on the down grade, many business houses also folded up.  Eventually even the Roy newspaper ceased publication.  The old town was slow "agrowing" and the new town was almost wiped out by fire the very first year.

"Fire practically destroyed the entire town of Roy this morning.  The fire originated in a frame building adjoining the lumber yard of the Floersheim Mercantile Company in the northwest part of town and being helped by a northwest wind, spread rapidly.  All mercantile establishments were destroyed as were several saloons, the bank, the post office, telephone exchange, and several residences.  The El Paso &Southwestern Railroad rushed several trainloads of water to help in the fighting of the fire, and the last report given was the fighters were gradually gaining control and would probably save the El Paso & Southwestern depot and warehouse.  Roy is a town of about 1000 population.  Early estimates of the loss place it at $300,000."  (Raton Range, Jun31, 1916)

Even prior to the move to the new site, Roy news was carried in the Springer Times.  There were days of violence in Roy.  The owner of the Roy Hotel resented someone's paying too much attention to his wife.  In the argument that followed, the hotel owner was shot and killed.  Such incidents took place in many towns.

The decline of the old country stores in Roy and of many other businesses was due to the paved roads, good highways to larger centers where people did their shopping.  Roy failed to boom after World War II for this reason.