Welcome
back to our blog on the National Park Service.
In this post we make our third and final visit to an NPS unit dedicated
to preserving a place associated with the life of President Abraham Lincoln.
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| Entrance sign. |
BACKGROUND:
In
1844, Abraham Lincoln purchased a home in Springfield, Illinois, the state
capital.
Lincoln had moved to the city
the previous decade, establishing his law practice, meeting and marrying his
wife Mary Todd, and starting a family.
Lincoln would serve a single term in the U.S. House of Representatives
from 1847 to 1849 while living in the home.
The next ten years he would continue with his law practice, arguing many
cases before the Illinois Supreme Court.
In this time Abraham and Mary would have four children, Robert, Edward,
Willie, and Tad, although Edward would die tragically young while they were
living in Springfield.
Lincoln would
embark on a failed run for the U.S. Senate in 1858, but his debates against
Democrat Stephen Douglas brought him national attention.
In 1860, as the country was being torn apart
over the issue of slavery, Lincoln was chosen as the Presidential nominee for
the new Anti-Slavery Republican party.
Benefitting from a split in the Democrat party, Lincoln was elected the
16
th President of the United States.
Southern states reacted to Lincoln’s election by seceding from the
Union, plunging the country into the Civil War.
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| The Lincoln Home, at the corner of East Jackson and 8th streets in Springfield. |
Lincoln
would never return to the house in Springfield, the only home he had ever
owned. Just as the Civil War was drawing
to a close in a Union victory, he was assassinated by southern sympathizer John
Wilkes Booth. Lincoln became a martyr
overnight, and was mourned across the north.
A funeral train brought his remains back to Springfield where he was
later interred in a grand tomb.
The
Lincoln Home likewise became a national shrine.
Robert Todd Lincoln donated his parents’ house to the state of Illinois,
which maintained the house as a state historic site. In 1971 it was declared a National Historic
Site under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service.
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| The extension of the parlor in the Lincoln Home where Abraham Lincoln accepted the Republican nomination for President in 1860. |
THE HISTORIC SITE:
Lincoln
Home National Historic Site is located near the center of Springfield,
Illinois. The epicenter of the site is
the Lincoln Home itself, fully restored and furnished with many original items
according to its 1850’s appearance. In
addition to the Lincoln Home, a four-block area around the house centered on
the corner of East Jackson and 8th Streets has also been restored as
much as possible to their appearance at the time Lincoln was living at the home
so that visitors may acquire a feeling for Lincoln’s neighborhood at that time
period. Several of the homes in the
restored district are open to the public featuring exhibits on the
neighborhood, Lincoln’s acquaintances, and restoration processes. The visitor center for the site is located on
the west side of the restored district on 7th Street.
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| A view looking southwest along 8th Street showing the restored neighborhood surrounding the Lincoln Home. |
TRAVEL TIPS:
The
Lincoln Home National Historic Site is open year-round with major holiday
exceptions from 8:30am to 5pm. Tours of
the Lincoln Home begin at 9am and run until 4:30pm. Tickets to the house are free, although there
is a $2 parking fee. Tickets for the
house tours are specifically timed and limited to fifteen people per tour and
visitors are required to gather with a Ranger ten minutes before tours begin. The remainder of the historic district is free
to tour with most of the buildings open to the public. Ranger programs and living history
demonstrations are common and it is recommended to check the site’s schedule
online before visiting. The Lincoln Home
is partially handicapped accessible. The
visitor center contains a short film and passport stamps can be found in the
bookstore.
For
those visitors who would like a more complete Lincoln experience, it is
recommended to also visit the Old State Capitol, where Lincoln served as a
state legislator and argued cases before the state Supreme Court, and the
Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices, which are both State Historic Sites and are
located two blocks northwest of the site.
A block further north is the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and
Museum.
Finally on the north side of
Springfield, a five minute drive from the site, is Oak Ridge Cemetery, which is
the location of the Lincoln tomb where the President is interred with his wife
and three of his four sons.
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| The tomb of Abraham Lincoln. The remains of the President are buried ten feet below the cenotaph, encased in several metal caskets and concrete to prevent the potential theft of his body which had been previously attempted. |
ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:
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| The front entrance to the Lincoln-Herndon Law Office where Lincoln practiced law prior to his Presidency. |
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| The Old State Capitol in Springfield. |
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| The former Illinois Supreme Court chambers within the Old State Capitol where Lincoln argued many cases before the court. |
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| The exterior of the Lincoln tomb. |
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| The exterior of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and museum. |
