Lincoln is a town in the historic area of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,362 at the 2010 census, including residents of Hanscom Air Force Base that live within town limits. Without the base, which is largely self-contained, Lincoln is home to 5,152 people, according to the 2000 census. Lincoln was settled in 1654 as part of neighboring Concord. It was incorporated as a separate town in 1754. Due to their "difficulties and inconveniences by reason of their distance from the places of Public Worship in their respective Towns," local inhabitants petitioned the General Court to be set apart as a separate town. Comprising parts "nipped" off from the adjacent towns of Concord, Weston and Lexington, it was sometimes referred to as "Niptown."
Lincoln has a total area of 15.0 square miles (38.9 km²), of which 14.4 square miles (37.2 km²) is land and 0.6 square miles (1.7 km²) is water, representing 4.26% of the town's total area. (Source: United States Census Bureau).