Friends of the Lincoln Historic Site

09/25/2026

After Dark is a unique opportunity for visitors to learn about and engage with Lincoln, New Mexico’s wild and storied frontier past under the veil of night. Once referred to as The Most Dangerous Street in America, today this quiet community is one of the most visited State Historic Sites in all of New Mexico. During After Dark events, visitors can explore the town through the eyes of its former residents, portrayed by the talented and entertaining performers at Oso Productions. While this is not a ghost tour, stories abound of shadowy figures and things that go bump in the night being experienced throughout town, many going back decades, and often attributed to the wild events that happened along this 1-mile stretch of dusty frontier-era street. Come learn about these unique real-life figures of America’s Wild West legend and lore. There will be food trucks onsite, live music and local vendors open for business, and a showing of Billy the Kid versus Dracula, a fun and campy 1966 film that illustrates just how pervasive Billy the Kid’s legend became in American history and popular culture. Proceeds go to the Friends of the Lincoln Historic Site, an all-volunteer group of local residents whose mission is to help promote and protect the Lincoln Historic Site, one of many under the stewardship of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs. We appreciate your support and hope to see you soon!

To purchase tickets in advance, visit:
https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/lincoln-after-dark-festival-october--2026

The image below depicts the Wortley Hotel, ca. 1975-1980 based on historic photos, and the legend of the shadowy cowboy figure often reported on the front porch on quiet, moonlit nights.

09/24/2026

Flooding in Lincoln. This was taken near the historic Montaño Store.

09/19/2026

Lincoln After Dark is coming up soon! Buy tickets online or at the Courthouse museum when you arrive. See details below. See you October 3 in historic Lincoln, New Mexico!

https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/lincoln-after-dark-festival-october--2026?fbclid=IwY2xjawUbtKFwZG9mAWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAGJyaWQRMVFVN0R3YTZiTWtVRldjSWVzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEe1oj_hDsFsn6S5z1xtwW6uQotdUuDAVUMFgG6eWQaj0UVj-JsXaNM-xvsfwo_aem_sflW8G7fKD9IwyOtsxWIYA

09/19/2026

Don't forget, Lincoln After Dark is coming up October 3rd!

09/05/2026

Hello friends, we're excited to announce the next Lincoln After Dark event! Come see live actors telling the stories of Lincoln's wild frontier past from 7-9, and come early to see a screening of the 1966 film Billy the Kid vs Dracula, showing in the Courthouse Museum. Local vendors will be open, and there will be live music and food trucks on site. What a great way to spend a Saturday evening in Lincoln County! Buy tickets online or come early to but tickets at the Courthouse. Hope to see you here!

https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/lincoln-after-dark-festival-october--2026

08/07/2026

The wonderful folks from Marrowbone Springs are back again this year entertaining large crowds (safely!) with historical reenactments of some of the famous shootouts from Lincoln's wild Frontier past. There's still plenty more coming up this weekend, come check it out!

08/07/2026

Today is the start of Old Lincoln Days, and the first weekend performance of the annual Billy the Kid Pageant, one of the oldest such pageants left in the country! Come see the campy retelling of Billy the Kid's last and greatest escape from Lincoln in 1881, performed from a script that is largely unchanged since the 1940s. While you're here you can also see historical reenactments and talks throughout the day, shop local vendors, enjoy food and brews, tour the historic sites and more! Hope to see you here!

07/01/2026

Old Lincoln Days is coming up in just a few weeks! It's Lincoln's biggest event of the year with gunfighters, talks, vendors and of course the annual Last Escape of Billy the Kid pageant performed daily over the three day event weekend. Our friends at Bad Hoss Map Company put together this neat poster showing the history of rainfall over the last 45 years of Old Lincoln Days, which is always the first full weekend of August. Bring your hat!

Old Lincoln Days is right around the corner so we put together something fun to help get you in the mood. For years I've heard it said around Lincoln that "it always rains on Old Lincoln Days!" I have a lot of memories of quick rainshowers at some point during the event weekend, and it makes sense, since summer is the rainy season. So I pulled rainfall data for the entire event weekend going back to 1981, the furthest back we have reliable daily data. Turns out that 89% of Old Lincoln Days weekends for the last 45 years did have some rainfall, and 38% of them saw rain showers all three days! Don't let this dampen your spirit. Due to geography, Lincoln rarely has long rainy days. Normally it's sun all day except for a cooling afternoon shower. I put together this poster detailing daily rainfall totals for the last 45 years of Old Lincoln Days and included a few charts summarizing the numbers. Old Lincoln Days is always the first full weekend of August so it's coming up fast. Be sure to bring a hat!

05/30/2026

Recent preservation work at the Torreón in Lincoln is a powerful reminder that caring for historic places is never finished. It is a responsibility passed from one generation to the next.

The Torreón is one of Lincoln’s oldest and most recognizable landmarks. Believed to date to the founding era of La Placita del Rio Bonito in the 1850s, this stone defensive tower was built during a time when Hispano settlers in the Bonito Valley faced danger and uncertainty on the New Mexico frontier. Long before Lincoln became known for the Lincoln County War, Billy the Kid, and Pat Garrett, the Torreón stood as a place of protection, community, and survival.

Its preservation story is also central to Lincoln’s history. Shortly after citizens voted to move the county seat from Lincoln to Carrizozo in 1909, local residents began advocating to protect the town’s historical integrity. Those efforts gained momentum as public fascination with the Lincoln County War and Billy the Kid grew, especially after Walter Noble Burns’ bestselling The Saga of Billy the Kid was published in 1927.

In 1934, Lincoln completed its first major preservation project: the restoration of the Torreón. Funded by the Works Progress Administration and completed under the direction of the Chaves County Historical and Archaeological Society, that work helped inspire later efforts to preserve the broader historic community.

Today’s work continues that legacy. The current mud plastering of the Torreón’s exterior is largely cosmetic, thanks to the permanent stabilization of the stone superstructure completed in the 1930s. But as a community-involved project, it also echoes the way Lincoln’s residents would likely have come together historically to maintain and protect this important defensive structure.

The work is being led by Cornerstones and the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps, with help from the community. The Friends of Historic Lincoln were proud to provide the dirt for the mud plaster, using local earth removed during a recent water system upgrade in Lincoln. In that way, the project is not only preserving the Torreón, but doing so with material quite literally drawn from the community itself.

The Torreón reminds us that Lincoln’s history did not begin with legend. It began with community.

05/22/2026

Here's an update on the movement of the Seven Cabins fire. Lincoln still seems safe for the time being.

I was hoping I wouldn't have to make one of these but the fire is still growing, albeit slowly. Right now the fire is about 12 miles north of Lincoln, as the crow flies, and primarily spreading south and west.