Lincoln County, New Mexico

Lincoln County is a county in New Mexico, United States, in the south-central part of the state, spanning the Sacramento and Capitan mountain ranges east of the Rio Grande valley. It had a population of 20,269 at the 2020 census and covers 4,831 square miles (12,510 km2) centred near 33°44′N 105°28′W.

Carrizozo is the county seat, and its postal code is 88301. Ruidoso is the county’s largest community. Lincoln County includes one town, one city, three villages and several dozen unincorporated communities and rural settlements. The county lies in the Mountain Time Zone (UTC−7, UTC−6 during daylight saving) and carries FIPS code 35027.

Towns & Villages in Lincoln County

Lincoln County’s settlements range from the resort village of Ruidoso to scattered ranching hamlets in the Jicarilla and Capitan foothills. Only five places are incorporated — one town (the seat), one city, and three villages. Everything else below is an unincorporated community, and two are historic mining camps now generally considered ghost towns (Jicarilla and White Oaks). Populations shown are 2020 Census Bureau figures for the incorporated places; unverified counts for small unincorporated communities are marked with a dash rather than guessed.

Jicarilla and White Oaks were both gold- and coal-mining camps in the late 1800s and are now largely abandoned; White Oaks briefly rivaled Carrizozo in population before the railroad bypassed it. Lincoln, the county’s namesake community, is a single street of adobe buildings preserved as the Lincoln Historic District and is not the county seat despite sharing the county’s name — Carrizozo holds that role.

ZIP Codes

Lincoln County is served by 15 ZIP codes: 11 standard delivery codes and four post-office-box-only codes for smaller communities.

• 88301 — Carrizozo (county seat)
• 88312 — Alto
• 88316 — Capitan
• 88318 — Corona
• 88323 — Fort Stanton (PO Box only)
• 88324 — Glencoe
• 88336 — Hondo
• 88338 — Lincoln (PO Box only)
• 88341 — Nogal
• 88343 — Picacho (PO Box only)
• 88345 — Ruidoso
• 88346 — Ruidoso Downs
• 88348 — San Patricio
• 88351 — Tinnie
• 88355 — Ruidoso (PO Box only)

Smaller rural communities such as Angus, Arabela, Bonito and Sun Valley have no ZIP code of their own and are served by the nearest post office town above.

Geography

Lincoln County straddles two mountain ranges — the Capitan Mountains in the north-central county and the Sacramento Mountains in the south, where Sierra Blanca Peak rises to about 11,981 feet, the tallest peak in southern New Mexico. The Rio Bonito and Rio Ruidoso drain the high country and join near Hondo to form the Rio Hondo, which flows east toward the Pecos River. The county also contains part of the Lincoln National Forest and the Fort Stanton–Snowy River Cave National Conservation Area, home to one of the longest gypsum caves in the country.

Lincoln County borders seven other New Mexico counties. Torrance County and Guadalupe County lie to the north, De Baca County to the northeast, Chaves County to the east, Otero County to the south, Sierra County to the southwest, and Socorro County to the west.

Demographics

Lincoln County had 20,269 residents at the 2020 census, spread across 4,831 square miles for a density of roughly 4.2 people per square mile — one of New Mexico’s more sparsely populated counties outside its resort towns. Ruidoso, with 7,679 residents, and Ruidoso Downs, with 1,902, are the county’s two largest communities and together hold nearly half the county’s population. Lincoln County’s median household income trails the New Mexico median of $62,268, reflecting an economy weighted toward tourism, retirement and ranching rather than salaried employment.

Economy & Local Life

Tourism drives much of Lincoln County’s economy. Ruidoso is a year-round mountain resort town, popular with visitors from Texas and southern New Mexico for its cool summer climate, hiking and proximity to the Ski Apache ski area on nearby Sierra Blanca. Ruidoso Downs Racetrack and Casino hosts the All American Futurity, historically the world’s richest quarter-horse race, each Labor Day weekend. Smokey Bear Historical Park in Capitan honors the bear cub rescued from a 1950 wildfire in the Capitan Mountains who became the U.S. Forest Service’s fire-prevention mascot. Fort Stanton, an 1855 frontier army post later used as a tuberculosis sanatorium and a World War II internment camp, is now a state historic site. Ranching and Lincoln National Forest timber and grazing leases remain important in the county’s rural east and north.

History

Lincoln County was created by the New Mexico territorial legislature on January 16, 1869, and named for President Abraham Lincoln, who had been assassinated four years earlier. At its formation it was the largest county by area in the United States, before being subdivided as neighboring counties were carved off in later decades. The county is best known nationally for the Lincoln County War of 1878, a violent feud between rival mercantile factions in the town of Lincoln that drew in a young ranch hand named William H. Bonney, later famous as Billy the Kid. The Lincoln Historic District preserves much of the town as it looked during the conflict.

Getting There

US Highway 70 runs through Ruidoso, Ruidoso Downs and Hondo on its way between Roswell and Alamogordo, while US Highway 54 crosses the county’s west side through Carrizozo and Corona. State roads NM-48 and NM-37 connect Ruidoso and Capitan to the smaller mountain communities, and NM-380 links Carrizozo to Lincoln and Fort Stanton.

• Roswell — about 70 miles east
• Alamogordo — about 65 miles south
• Albuquerque — about 150 miles north
• Las Cruces — about 150 miles southwest

The nearest commercial air service is Roswell Air Center in neighboring Chaves County; Sierra Blanca Regional Airport near Alto handles general aviation traffic for the Ruidoso area.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Lincoln County, New Mexico?
It is in south-central New Mexico, spanning the Sacramento and Capitan mountain ranges between Roswell and Alamogordo.

What is the population of Lincoln County?
20,269 people, according to the 2020 census.

How big is Lincoln County?
4,831 square miles (12,510 km2), almost entirely land.

What is the county seat of Lincoln County?
Carrizozo is the county seat; Ruidoso is the county’s largest community.

How many towns and villages are in Lincoln County?
Five places are incorporated — the town of Carrizozo, the city of Ruidoso Downs, and the villages of Ruidoso, Capitan and Corona — plus dozens of unincorporated communities.

What ZIP codes are in Lincoln County?
Fifteen, led by 88345 (Ruidoso) and 88301 (Carrizozo); the full list is above.

Why is Lincoln County famous?
It was the site of the 1878 Lincoln County War, which brought Billy the Kid to national notoriety, and today it is home to the Ruidoso resort area and Smokey Bear’s origin story in Capitan.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in New Mexico.