BlockBefore

Lincoln, New Mexico

9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 2004. It stands in the Hondo census division. It lies in ZIP code area 88338. It lies near Baca Canyon. The Survey maps it on the Lincoln quadrangle. It stands 5,663 feet above sea level.

Lincoln within Lincoln County

On record in Lincoln

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 1 record

Surveyed buildings and structures 7 records

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 9 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Photographs

8 of 13 photographs shown, 2018

Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.

Humble cemetery in Lincoln, an unincorporated village in southeast New Mexico that was the centerpiece of the three-year-long "Lincoln County War" that began in 1878 and involved gunfights among factions of rival store owners, cattlemen, and outlaws, including the infamous Henry McCarty, better known as "Billy the Kid"
Humble cemetery in Lincoln, an unincorporated village in southeast New Mexico that was the centerpiece of the three-year-long "Lincoln County War" that began in 1878 and involved gunfights among factions of rival store owners, cattlemen, and outlaws, including the infamous Henry McCarty, better known as "Billy the Kid"
Highsmith, Carol M, 2018. Library of Congress
The Tunstall-McSween Store in the historic district of Lincoln, an unincorporated village in southeast New Mexico
The Tunstall-McSween Store in the historic district of Lincoln, an unincorporated village in southeast New Mexico
Highsmith, Carol M, 2018. Library of Congress
The San Juan Mission, left, and the El El Torreón fortification, center, are two of the features at the Historic Lincoln district in Lincoln, an unincorporated village in southeast New Mexico
The San Juan Mission, left, and the El El Torreón fortification, center, are two of the features at the Historic Lincoln district in Lincoln, an unincorporated village in southeast New Mexico
Highsmith, Carol M, 2018. Library of Congress
Art gallery in the historic district of Lincoln, an unincorporated village in southeast New Mexico that became was the centerpiece of the violent "Lincoln County War involving gunfights among factions of rival store owners, cattlemen, and outlaws, including the infamous Henry McCarty, better known as "Billy the Kid"
Art gallery in the historic district of Lincoln, an unincorporated village in southeast New Mexico that became was the centerpiece of the violent "Lincoln County War involving gunfights among factions of rival store owners, cattlemen, and outlaws, including the infamous Henry McCarty, better known as "Billy the Kid"
Highsmith, Carol M, 2018. Library of Congress
El Torreón, a stone fortification in Lincoln, an unincorporated village in southeast New Mexico, utilized by the area's Hispanic settlers in the early 1800s to survive raiding parties by the area's native Apaches
El Torreón, a stone fortification in Lincoln, an unincorporated village in southeast New Mexico, utilized by the area's Hispanic settlers in the early 1800s to survive raiding parties by the area's native Apaches
Highsmith, Carol M, 2018. Library of Congress
Doorway of an art gallery in the historic district of Lincoln, an unincorporated village in southeast New Mexico that became the centerpiece of the violent "Lincoln County War" that began in 1878 and involved gunfights among factions of rival store owners, cattlemen, and outlaws, including the infamous Henry McCarty, better known as "Billy the Kid"
Doorway of an art gallery in the historic district of Lincoln, an unincorporated village in southeast New Mexico that became the centerpiece of the violent "Lincoln County War" that began in 1878 and involved gunfights among factions of rival store owners, cattlemen, and outlaws, including the infamous Henry McCarty, better known as "Billy the Kid"
Highsmith, Carol M, 2018. Library of Congress
Iglesia de San Juan Bautista, U.S. Highway 380, Lincoln, Lincoln County, NM
Iglesia de San Juan Bautista, U.S. Highway 380, Lincoln, Lincoln County, NM
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Courthouse, U.S. Highway 380, Lincoln, Lincoln County, NM
Courthouse, U.S. Highway 380, Lincoln, Lincoln County, NM
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress

Every photograph of Lincoln County

Fires near this place

29 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 29 fires within 5 miles of Lincoln between 1993 and 2020, burning about 187 acres in total. 6 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined7
Equipment and vehicle use6
Natural6
Debris and open burning4
Other causes2
Recreation and ceremony2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Smoking1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
4 September 2020Other causesunder an acreCapitan District21-50490259X
4 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCapitan District20-50620224X
14 September 2000Equipment and vehicle use3.4 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionSEDILLO
6 August 2007Equipment and vehicle use2.0 acresLincoln National ForestWEST
5 August 2003Naturalunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionPENA
30 July 1993Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionMARGUERITA
20 July 2019Naturalunder an acreCapitan District20-50190100N
21 June 2020Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCapitan DistrictBIG TREE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Lincoln County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Lincoln: 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Salazar Canyon PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown

Every working recorded in Lincoln County

Storms near this place

10 since 2007

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Lincoln in 10 storm reports between 2007 and 2025: 8 hail, 2 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
October 2015HailLincoln$25,000Observer reported damage to cars, roofs and windows. Extent of damage unknown.
July 2008Flash FloodLincoln$500Flooding along the Rio Bonito dislodged a couple of foot bridges at the Lincoln State Monument and moved them downstream approximately one eighth of a mile.
August 2025Flash FloodLincoln-Heavy rain from thunderstorms resulted in fast moving water flowing over U.S Highway 380 in Lincoln.
June 2017HailLincoln-Several inches of at least quarter size hail accumulated along U.S. Highway 380 near Salazar Canyon. The entire mountain side turned white.
June 2017HailLincoln-Dime to quarter size hail near Lincoln.
June 2017HailLincoln-Hail up to the size of nickels in Lincoln.
June 2014HailLincoln-Lincoln.
June 2014HailLincoln-Lincoln.
June 2008HailLincoln-Penny size hail at the Lincoln State Monument.
June 2007HailLincoln-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Lincoln County

Newspapers printed here

336 digitised pages

1 paper published in this town, digitised by the Library of Congress and free to read: 83 issues, 336 pages. Every page is searchable, so a name or a street can be looked for directly in what the town printed about itself at the time.

NewspaperPublished
Golden Era1884 to 188?

What the paper printed

3,468 words

Front pages of the local paper, read from the Library of Congress scans: 2 issues spread across its run from 1884 to 1886, 3,468 words in total. Each is reproduced on its own page, exactly as the recogniser returned it.

These pages read less well than anything else here, and the number is worth stating: about three words in four come through cleanly, against nine in ten for the building records. An 1896 broadsheet sets eight-point type in seven columns on microfilm, which is the hardest thing in this archive to read by machine. We tested our own recognisers against the Library's and they were not better, so the Library's text is what appears, with the wholly unreadable columns removed. Read it as a guide to what the paper covered, and follow the link to the scan before quoting anything.

IssuePaper Length
1884-07-17Golden Era624 words
1886-02-18Golden Era2,844 words

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Baca (historical)3.3 miles13
Double Crossing3.8 miles14
San Patricio6.5 miles9
Glencoe6.7 miles9
Escondido (historical)7.4 miles9
Fort Stanton7.4 miles9
Hondo9.4 miles9
Capitan10.6 miles15

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on LincolnAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q4307407The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 923620. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.