park, from 8 a.m.-10 p.m. daily.
Lincoln Home National Historic Site
It’s best to begin your tour of the Lincoln Home site at the visitor center, 426 S. Seventh St. That’s where you get free admission tickets to the residence, which is located just a short walk away at Eighth and Jackson streets.
The center includes a theater, a gift shop and a Lincoln-themed bookstore. A video tour of the Lincoln home plays throughout the day in the theater. It’s worth a look before or after visiting the home. Be sure to enhance your visit by viewing the “What a Pleasant Home Lincoln Has” exhibit at the Dean House and “If These Walls Could Talk: Saving an Old House” exhibit at the Arnold House. Both houses are across the street from the Lincoln residence and are selfguided; no tickets required.
The site is open year-round — for special events, check out the calendar in the back of this Visitor Guide. The area is cared for by the National Park Service and includes not only the house Lincoln and his family lived in for 15 years (1844-1861) but also the restored 19th-century neighborhood surrounding it. The neighborhood takes up four blocks. The sidewalks and streets have been remodeled to resemble post- 1860s Springfield, complete with gaslights and a wooden walkway. The Lincoln home is the most recognizable of all the sites. Best of all, it’s open free of charge to the public.
The tour of the Lincoln home isn’t long, but it varies depending on your guide. The family sold most of its furniture after Lincoln was elected president. The house was leased and eventually donated to the state by eldest son Robert. The curators have acquired about 50 of the original furnishings, including Lincoln’s desk.
Lincoln Home National Historic Site, Visitor Center, 426 S. Seventh St. (residence, 413 S. Eighth St.), 217-492-4241, www.nps.gov/liho. Open 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. daily except Jan. 1, Thanksgiving, and Dec. 25. Admission is free.
Old State Capitol
Across the street from Lincoln’s law office is the Old State Capitol. It’s located off the Adams Street pedestrian mall, between Fifth and Sixth streets. Before the current state Capitol opened in 1877, this was the seat of Illinois state government. Behind its massive oak doors, Lincoln tried hundreds of cases and spent countless hours bent over books in the state library. Here he delivered his famed “House Divided” speech. After Lincoln was assassinated, his casket was brought here to the Capitol, and 75,000 mourners filed past it to pay their last respects.
As a state representative, Lincoln had a hand in moving the state capital from Vandalia to Springfield. In 1834, a popular vote was held to select the capital from one of six sites. Alton came in first, Vandalia second, and Springfield third. However, the state legislature decided to repeal the referendum and cast their votes for Springfield.
The Old Capitol Art Fair Board hosts a juried art show on the Old State Capitol Plaza the second weekend each May. In 2010, the show will be May 15 and 16.
Old State Capitol, 1 Old Capitol Plaza, 217-785-9363, www.oldstatecapitol.org. Open May 15-Labor Day in September, Monday – Sunday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Post Labor Day in September-May 14, Tuesday –Saturday, 9 a.m. – 5p.m. The last tour begins 45 minutes before closing. Free admission. Donations accepted.
Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices
On the south side of the Old State Capitol Plaza, at Sixth and Adams, is the only remaining building in which Lincoln practiced law. On the third floor, Lincoln and his future biographer, William Herndon, worked together from 1844 to 1852. After Lincoln’s death, Herndon traveled the state, pulling Lincoln’s original writings from the files of county courthouses and leaving copies as he visited.
Herndon’s published recollections provide a more intimate look at Lincoln’s life.
Herndon had a low opinion of Mary Todd Lincoln, and the feeling was mutual. Herndon believed that the Lincoln children were indulged; they had free run of both the house and their father’s law office, where, to Herndon’s dismay, Lincoln ignored them further messing up his already messy office.
Lincoln’s law cases have been the subject of a decade-long project, the Lincoln Legal Papers, which will eventually publish all of Lincoln’s legal writings. Though popular legend concentrates on Lincoln’s sticking up for the underdog, he collected his biggest fees from the Illinois Central Railroad, which hired him to keep the people of McLean County from taxing the corporation’s land. As Henry Whitney said in the 1880s, “As attorney for the Illinois Central Railroad, I had authority to employ additional counsel whenever I chose to do so, and I frequently applied to Lincoln when I needed aid. I never found him unwilling to appear in behalf of a
