[2] The county was named after Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States.

For many millennia, the Great Plains of North America was inhabited by nomadic Native Americans.

In 1802, Spain returned most of the land to France, but keeping title to about 7,500 square miles.

In 1803, most of the land for modern day Kansas was acquired by the United States from France as part of the 828,000 square mile Louisiana Purchase for 2.83 cents per acre.

Lincoln county is among those in Kansas that are part of the depopulation of the Great Plains.

In common with other rural areas of the Great Plains states, Lincoln County votes predominantly Republican.

Following amendment to the Kansas Constitution in 1986, the county remained a prohibition, or "dry", county until 1990, when voters approved the sale of alcoholic liquor by the individual drink with a 30% food sales requirement.