Lordsburg was founded in 1880 on the route of the Southern Pacific Railroad, near that used by the Butterfield Overland Mail Co. from 1858 to 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.