Lincoln is in Lincoln County, and in the Southeast New Mexico region. You can locate Lincoln west of Roswell between Socorro and Roswell along US Highway 380 on the banks of the Rio Bonito River near the Lincoln National Forest.
Spanish settlers arrived here in 1849. They named their community La Placita or Bonito, referring to "the village by the pretty river". In 1869, the territorial legislature developed a new county named for President Lincoln, and La Placita changed to Lincoln and became the new county seat.