Lincoln County Historical Society - NM

05/10/2026

Your Carrizozo Heritage Museum & Visitor Center received a unique donation recently, and just now installed.

These are two cement pylons that used to sit at the intersections of streets in town. They were apparently in place in the 20s and 30s, long ago replaced with the more familiar street signs on poles.

Alamogordo Avenue is now 12th St., and El Paso Ave. is now 13th St.

Because the pylons were broken at the bottom when they were removed from their original site, installing them here necessitated making them a bit lower, which obscures part of the lettering. But note that the “E“ in “Ave.” on Alamogordo‘s post is reversed. An indelible ‘typo’ from a lifetime ago! 

While we were tempted to paint them a neutral color to make them easier to read, we have decided to leave them unadulterated, with the original paint and patina intact.

Stop by and have a look! They’re installed just a few dozen feet away from the donation box… 😄

05/07/2026

05/02/2026

The only picture, of which I’m aware, of Carrizozo’s Lyric Theater on 12th Street. Taken in 1919. See other photo for posters of the films being screened that weekend.

Note that the name at the time was The Crystal Theater. It’s had three names - opened as the Carrizozo Opera House for live stage shows, then the Crystal when converted to film (the name a reference to the projector lens), then changed to The Lyric, a reference to the advent of sound film.

03/23/2026

Thanks to everyone who came out this weekend to attend the Mayoral ribbon-cutting and re-opening of the Heritage Hall building at the Carrizozo Heritage Museum & Visitor Center! The campus now has three buildings full of displays (even a few interactive ones!), and is open Thursday-Saturday (10-3) and Sunday Noon - 4. Until mid-October.

03/18/2026

Catch Museum Director Dennis Bateman on Friday 20th at noon. FM 99.1; AM 1490. I'll be touting this weekend's reopening and expansion of the Carrizozo Heritage Museum & Visitor Center.

Also on-line afterwards: Google “1490 Ruidoso Rewind.”

03/09/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1EMW4YqGY5/?mibextid=wwXIfr

The museum examines the history, culture, industry and environment of Carrizozo, the county seat of Lincoln County.

More: https://www.ktsm.com/news/state-regional/new-mexico/refurbished-carrizozo-museum-to-reopen-for-season/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_KTSM_9_News

03/06/2026

JAILBREAK! Visitors to the Museum can now get their picture taken ‘in jail’ behind one of the real doors from the original Lincoln County Jail.

(They can also learn that Billy the Kid did NOT escape out of this door - there was no jail (and not even any Carrizozo) in his short life. He was shackled, not jailed, in the courthouse in Lincoln.)