Lordsburg

The panel's Lindbergh landing was a half-hour stop. On September 24, 1927, on his tour of the country after the Paris flight, Charles Lindbergh left Tucson, flew over Silver City and Fort Bayard, and set the Spirit of St. Louis down on Lordsburg's airfield, open for landings since 1924 and counted as New Mexico's first airport. He spoke briefly to a crowd reported at 10,000 and flew on to El Paso. Frontier Airlines DC-3s called there in the 1950s, and in the mid-1970s a runway was moved to make room for Interstate 10.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Lordsburg Elevation 4,245 Lordsburg was founded in 1880 on the route of the Southern Pacific Railroad, near that used by the Butterfield Overland Mail Co., 1858-1861. The town was named for Delbert Lord, an engineer with the railroad. In 1927, Charles Lindbergh landed his famed Spirit of St. Louis on Lordsburg. For years, the town catered to motorists traveling the Old Spanish Trail highway and later U.S. 80.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Shakespeare — steps away
• Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument — steps away
• The Women of Shakespeare — steps away
• Lordsburg — 0.6 mi