He published well over a hundred articles in scientific journals, books and monographs, as well as poetry and books for a general audience. He has named after him, Mount Spurr, a very active volcano near Anchorage; Spurr crater on the moon; and a mineral, spurrite. Many of his papers, correspondence and photographs are in the American Heritage Center of the University of Wyoming; others are preserved in the Anchorage office of the United States Geological Survey.
