Lincoln, NM

Lincon, NM is an unincorporated community in Lincoln County. Today it's population is counted with the county but back in 1880's it had a population of 800. Originally it was called Las Placeitas de Rio Bonito by Spanish settlers in the 1850's. It was changed to Lincoln when Lincoln County was created in 1869. It, along with Lincoln county was named for Abraham Lincoln. I want to thank Dave McKinney for suggesting that we visit Lincoln. Dave is from New Mexico and he was right, it is definately a town that has to be visited while in New Mexico. This is where the Lincoln County War was. It was named the "world's most dangerour street" by Preident Rutherford B Hayes during the two year war and it is where Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett became famous.
Last week I wrote about the Lincoln County War that was started due to the competition over two dry good stores. The Murphy-Dolan store was called "The House" and was the only store in the territory until a young Englishman, Tunstall, came to town and wanted to build his own store. The House did not want it and a war was started with the assignation of Tunstall. Lincoln became a national historic district in 1960 and Lincoln has become the Lincoln State Monunment. It is open everyday 8:30 to 4:30 and it has five museums. The cost to visit everything in town is $5.00 a person and is well worth it. It takes a couple of hours to walk Main street and see and do everything in town. There are four small and unique restaurants and a couple of stores. The whole street is about a quarter of a mile long but it contains a lifetime full of history. The slideshow I posted shows most of the buildings but barely touches the history involved. It is definatley a must see when in New Mexico especially if you love history.