The Preston E. Smith prison unit, named for the former governor of Texas, is located just outside Lamesa.

During the last weekend of April, Lamesa hosts the annual Chicken Fried Steak Festival.

Lamesa has been called "the birthplace of the chicken-fried steak", but the reporter who made the designation later confessed that the claim is fictional.

In the 2013 competition, Mayor Dave Nix teamed with city councilman Greg Hughes as contestants.

[14] La Entrada al Pacifico is an international trade corridor that begins in Topolobampo, Mexico, runs through Midland-Odessa and ends in Lamesa (according to the legal definition).

Before he became famous, musician Buddy Holly performed on the roof of the Sky Vue's projector building.

The CBS television series Dallas had one of its more profitable oil wells, Ewing 23, in Lamesa.

In one of the more dramatic scenes of the series, in season four, J. R. Ewing flies in his Learjet to the Lamesa airport.

Shortly thereafter, gunfire erupts and Dawson County sheriff's deputies shoot a man who blew up the oilfield after a failed effort to blackmail Ewing.

[18] The Dal Paso Museum, a collection of local artifacts housed in a former hotel, is located in downtown Lamesa.

The name is derived from the fact that Lamesa is located on the table land of the Staked Plains.

On display are home furnishings, pioneer tools, ranch and farm equipment, and exhibits by local artists.

The average annual temperature is 61.4 °F (16.3 °C), making it the ninth-coldest place in Texas after cities such as Amarillo and Lubbock.