Meet Springfield’s best-known resident and revered icon

Two centuries after his birth, Springfield’s best-known resident remains a revered icon, a leader who bore the weight of destiny to his untimely demise. Born in dire poverty and self-educated, Abraham Lincoln rose to lead our nation during its darkest time. His words inspired Americans during the Civil War, and they inspire us today.

Lincoln was born in Kentucky, grew up in Indiana and came into his own in Illinois. As a young man, he arrived in New Salem. A year later, he was elected captain of a militia company in the Black Hawk Indian wars. When the pioneer village helped elect Lincoln to the state legislature, he had to borrow money to purchase a suit. At the age of 28 he moved to Springfield without enough money to buy a bed. Through initiative, hard work and talent, he became an established, respected lawyer, was elected to the U.S. Congress, debated Stephen Douglas in an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate and, in 1860, was elected the 16th president of the United States.

As Lincoln left for the nation’s capital in 1861 and the Civil War appeared imminent, he prophetically told a crowd assembled at the train station in Springfield: “I now leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested on Washington.”

After Lincoln’s assassination, a grieving nation cast him as a mythic figure. Over the years Springfield has become a destination for many American pilgrimages. But in Lincoln’s hometown you’ll find not only the remnants of Honest Abe the railsplitter, you’ll also discover a more complex, shrewd and wondrous man than the one likely encountered in your high school textbooks.

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum

Whether you’re a Lincoln researcher or just curious about the life of the Great Emancipator, you should begin your visit at the museum, on the northeast corner of Jefferson and Sixth St. Parking is available on the street or in a nearby visitors’ parking lot. Plan at least three hours for your visit to the museum and bookstore.

All museum exhibits are located on the ground floor, and all facilities are in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. On the entryway floor, a compass points visitors to the plaza where the historical tour begins. Visitors see a replica of Lincoln’s boyhood home in Indiana and the front of the White House as it appeared in 1861. From that sunny atrium-like area, with its 70-foot ceiling, visitors may proceed to any of six display areas.

Many will be drawn naturally to the more rustic setting of the log cabin, where “The Journey” – the title of this odyssey through Lincoln’s life – begins. Children who are not as fascinated with Lincoln lore as their elders may enjoy a visit to Mrs. Lincoln’s Attic, a supervised playroom where they may participate in a variety of hands-on activities, including dress-up, playing with giant Lincoln Logs and exploring a large dollhouse version of the Lincoln Home.

“The Journey” begins with a visit to the circa-1820s replica of Lincoln’s boyhood cabin. Lincoln’s life story is depicted with the use of full-size replicas of a slave auction; life in New Salem; the future president’s interest in Ann Rutledge and his courtship of Mary Todd; Lincoln’s law office, with sons Willie and Tad playing on the furniture; the 1860 presidential campaign debate at Galesburg and Lincoln’s farewell to Springfield. One highlight: a simulated television director’s studio where news stories and commercials for Lincoln’s 1860 presidential campaign are continuously played on video monitors as though the election were being held in modern times.

Part two of “The Journey” begins in a replica of the White House’s Blue Room, where Mary Todd Lincoln appears to extend her arms in welcome. Most of this part of the tour is focused on the Civil War. In the Whispering Gallery, visitors hear the whispering voices of Lincoln’s detractors and see editorial cartoons depicting Abe in ways that make modern editorial images seem tame. In a reproduction of what is now known as the Lincoln Bedroom, a gravely ill Willie is shown with his parents at his side as a White House ball goes on just outside the open door. Also included are replicas of the White House’s basement kitchen and the Cabinet Room, where Lincoln discussed his forthcoming Emancipation Proclamation with a divided cabinet. In one room visitors see the president standing at his desk before signing the proclamation as a barrage of words and projected images depict the world that surrounded him when he put pen to paper. The journey ends with a reproduction of Lincoln’s coffin as it lay in state on the second floor of Springfield’s first State Capitol.

In the 250-seat Union Theater, a 17-minute layered-projection show, Lincoln’s Eyes, depicts the president as each side of the divided nation saw him. The seats tremble when cannons are “fired” into the audience and other special effects add dimension to the story. Although the show presents the entire picture, the message is intended to inspire viewers by revealing the obstacles Lincoln overcame in his effort to serve his country. The theater is also rented to organizations to use for various activities.

A climate-controlled Treasures Gallery displays priceless artifacts from Lincoln’s life. These displays change throughout the year, so what you see in April may be replaced by something else by September.

The SBC Ghosts of the Library theater presentation features a live actor and holographic ghosts, answering the age-old question, “Why do we study this old stuff?” “Ask Mr. Lincoln” is a touch-and-learn display that allows visitors to make selections from a variety of questions about the man and his family. Answers are spoken as related images appear on screen.

The Illinois Gallery hosts a changing variety of presentations about Illinois history and art.

The temporary exhibit “To Kill and To Heal:

Weapons and Medicine of the Civil War” will be on display through Dec. 31, 2013. A smaller exhibit on Benito Juarez, President of Mexico from 1861 to 1871, explains the life of the man known as the Mexican Lincoln. Born to peasants in Oaxaca who died when he was three years old, Juarez was raised by an uncle and later became a lawyer, judge and president of Mexico.

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, 212 N. Sixth St., 217-558-8844, www.presidentlincoln.org. Museum hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily (ticket sales end at 4 p.m.). Museum admission is $12 for visitors ages 16-61; $9 for seniors 62 and older; $7 for active duty military personnel; $9 for students with a school or college ID; $6 for children 5-15; free for children under age 5. Admission is discounted for prearranged group and school tours.

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library

The Lincoln Presidential Library (formerly the Illinois State Historical Library) is just across Jefferson Street from the museum and is home to nearly 13 million items pertaining to Illinois history. Genealogists, scholars and students make use of the library’s county histories, photographs, manuscripts and newspapers. The Lincoln Collection is also housed in the library, as are the papers of Abraham Lincoln.

On display in the lobby is Part III of the popular Boys in Blue exhibit, the story of Illinois soldiers who fought for the Union. “Boys in Blue: When Will This Cruel War Be Over?” spotlights Civil War prisons and prisoners, immigrant and Jewish soldiers, the role of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, the battle of Vicksburg and the Emancipation Proclamation.

There is no charge to use the library or see the exhibit. Library offices are closed on weekends and holidays, but the lobby is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily for anyone wishing to see the Boys in Blue exhibit which runs through March 2014.

Library hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Public and research hours: 9 a.m.- 5 p.m.; closed Saturday and Sunday. Admission to the library and gift shop is free.

Illinois Visitor Center at Union Station Looking for information about Springfield’s historic sites and attractions? Look no more! The Illinois Visitors Center at Union Station highlights sites and attractions in the capital city, as well as tourism throughout Illinois. Located across from the ALPM, the Illinois Visitor Center at Union Station also offers information on booking hotel accommodations and special event packages that are scheduled across Illinois.

Union Square Park

Union Square Park, also located across the street from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, is home to a number of Springfield’s most popular free activities, events and musical performances, including the 33rd Illinois Vol. Regiment Band and the 10th Illinois Vol. Cavalry Regiment Band (both Civil War reenactment groups), Mary Lincoln’s Strawberry Party (a summertime family event), July 4 celebrations, New Century Orchestra, Springfield International Folk Dancers and many more.

The 86,000-square-foot park is home to two Abe Lincoln statues. And, it’s beautifully

landscaped with William Baffin Climbing Roses, Mary Todd Daylilies, Black-eyed Susan and Wintergreen Littleleaf Boxwoods, and Autumn Blaze Maples, Ozark Spring Flowering Dogwoods and Accolade Elms, providing the perfect backdrop for relaxation.

A list of events and performances at Union Square Park can be found at www. presidentlincoln.org. Events of 15 or more people are required to secure a park permit. To obtain a permit call 217-558-9014 or download an application at http://www.alplm.org/union_station/ union_square_park.html and click “Request a Union Square Park Permit.” Union Station is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily and the park is open from 8 a.m.-10 p.m. daily.

Lincoln Home National Historic Site

Each year, hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world learn intimate details of the life of our 16th president as they follow in his footsteps while touring the Lincoln Home National Historic Site. Highlights of the Lincolns’ 12-room Greek Revival Home includes a formal parlor, sitting and dining rooms, Abe’s and Mary’s individual bedrooms, children’s rooms, kitchen and outbuilding.

In addition to the Lincoln family home, the four-block area features the restored 19th century neighborhood, complete with homes of several neighbors, sidewalks, gaslights and wooden walkways.

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 the admission tickets to the residence, which is just a short walk away at Eighth and Jackson streets.

The center includes a theater, gift shop and a Lincoln-themed bookstore. A video tour of the Lincoln home plays throughout the day in the theater. Other videos include the theatrical documentaries Abraham Lincoln: A Journey to Greatness, Homage to Lincoln and At Home with Mr. Lincoln. Visitors can view them either before or after their visit. Guests can also enhance their visits 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 self-guided; no tickets required.

A complete view of the site takes approximately 2 hours. Admission is free; however, visitors must obtain tickets from the Visitor Center Information Desk at 426 South Seventh Street. The home is at 413 South Eighth Street. Hours are 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. daily except Jan. 1, Thanksgiving and Dec. 25. 217-492- 4241, www.nps.gov/liho/index.htm.

Old State Capitol

Before his days as president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln spent countless hours at the building we now call the Old State Capitol. During his term as state representative, Lincoln was instrumental in moving the state capital from Vandalia to Springfield. It is also the place where Lincoln served his final term (1840- 1841) as an Illinois state legislator.

As an attorney, Lincoln tried several hundred cases before the Illinois Supreme Court housed here. It is also the site where Lincoln delivered his famous House Divided speech. During the 1860 presidential campaign, Lincoln used the Old State Capitol’s governor’s room as his headquarters.

On May 3 and 4, 1865, following Lincoln’s assassination, 75,000 mourners convened at the Old State Capitol to bid farewell as Lincoln’s body laid in state in the building’s Representatives Hall.

In the 1960s, the Greek Revival-styled building was reconstructed. Today, the first floor features a central hall flanked by rooms interpreting government offices, two libraries and the Supreme Court room. First-floor rooms also provide an audiovisual theatre and staff offices. The second-floor rooms were recreated to include a magnificent rotunda, legislative chambers and smaller offices and meeting rooms.

Visitors can take a 30-minute interpreter-conducted tour or view the rooms on their own.

Also available is a 15-minute orientation video on the building’s history.

Each year, the Old State Capitol hosts a number of special events, including the Abraham Lincoln Symposium (February), Holocaust Remembrance Day (April), Annual Civil War Encampment (June) and the Old Capitol Art Fair (May). For more information on the Old State Capitol and its upcoming activities and events go to http://www.illinoishistory.gov/hs/old_capitol.htm

The Old State Capitol, located at 1 Old State Capitol Plaza, between Fifth and Sixth Streets, is open Tuesday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Extended summer hours. The last tour begins 45 minutes before closing. The Old State Capitol is closed on New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday, President’s Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Free admission. Donations accepted. 217-785-9363.

Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices

Though Lincoln practiced law at a variety of locations, Springfield’s Lincoln-Herndon Law Office is the only remaining structure still in existence today. Originally designed as a commercial structure, from 1843 to about 1852 Lincoln and law partner William H. Herndon rented space in the building to practice law.

Though the walls can’t talk, Herndon, who worked with Lincoln from 1844-1852, certainly did. In 1889, he penned a Lincoln biography – Herndon’s Lincoln: The True Story of A Great Life – which shared an intimate look at the life of the 16th president based on his own observation and stories collected from people close to Lincoln and his family. His goal was to portray Lincoln as a man rather than a saint. In the book, Herndon revealed that he and Lincoln’s wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, shared low opinions of each other. He believed that the Lincoln children were indulged and 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.

Today, the Lincoln-Herndon Law office consists of the surviving portion of a three-story brick commercial block constructed in 1840- 41. The “restored” building has a visitors center with an exhibit gallery, audiovisual theater, and a room interpreted as an 1840s post office facility. The site’s second floor consists of rooms representing those used by the federal court, while the third floor displays a “common room” and three lawyers’ offices – two of which were used by Lincoln and his partners. The recreated offices are notable for the plainness and disorder that were remembered by Lincoln associates.

In addition to an orientation video, visitors to the Lincoln-Herndon Law Office receive a 20-minute guided tour of the historic rooms. On Wednesdays during the summer months, a costumed interpreter portrays Lincoln’s law clerk. Also, exhibits in the visitors center provide information on Lincoln’s legal career and life on the Eighth Judicial Circuit.

Lincoln-Herndon Law Office, Sixth and Adams, 217-785-7289. Open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday during winter and seven days a week during summer. Free, donations accepted. http://www.illinoishistory.gov/hs/ lincoln_herndon.htm

The Lincoln Tomb

A 117-foot granite tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery – Illinois’ largest cemetery and the second most visited in the nation – houses the remains of Lincoln, his wife and three of his four sons.

Lincoln’s body rests in a concrete vault 10 feet below a marble floor of the burial chamber. The gravesite is marked with a granite cenotaph flanked by the presidential flag and flags of the states in which the Lincoln family resided. Crypts in the chamber’s south wall contain the bodies of Lincoln’s wife and children.

The 117-foot granite tomb also features an interior room finished in polished marble trimmed with bronze; an entrance opening into a rotunda with corridors leading into the burial chamber; reproductions of various Lincoln statues; a heroic bronze statue of Lincoln, and plaques with excerpts from Lincoln’s Springfield farewell speech, the Gettysburg Address and his second inaugural address.

The cemetery also contains a public receiving vault, which was constructed in 1860 and served as the scene of President Lincoln’s funeral.

While at the cemetery, you can visit the gravesites of a number of other prominent Illinoisans, including governors, poet Vachel Lindsay, and United Mine Workers leader John L. Lewis.

Each year, the Lincoln Tomb co-hosts a number of special events, such as the American Legion Lincoln’s birthday pilgrimage, the Veterans of Foreign Wars annual pilgrimage, the Sons of Union Veterans Lincoln’s Death Anniversary Services, Mary Lincoln Coterie, Boy Scout Sunday and weekly summer Civil War reenactments from the 114th Illinois Infantry.

Lincoln Tomb, 1500 Monument Ave., Oak Ridge Cemetery, 217-782-2717, www. illinoishistory.gov/hs/lincoln_tomb.htm. Open May 1-Labor Day, Monday-Sunday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Post Labor Day in September-October 31, Tuesday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; November- February, Tuesday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.; March-April, Tuesday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Groups of 15 or more should call 1-800-545-7300 for reservations.

Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site

A visit to Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site will transport you to a century long gone, while giving you a better understanding of life as a pioneer.

Though we often think of Lincoln as the hardworking, rail-splitting pioneer, historians maintain that the Old Abe lived in the village from 1831 to 1837 to get away from the manual labor of his younger days.

While many of the structures were rebuilt over the original sites in the early 1930s, the town adheres to an impressive and painstaking attention to authentic detail. Interpreters in period dress at the 635-acre site effectively explain and demonstrate life in the 1800s, leaving some to briefly long for simpler days.

Lincoln’s New Salem also has a visitors center, where guests can view the film Turning Point, which offers an introduction to New Salem and Abraham Lincoln. A gift shop and an indoor museum and outdoor theater, which houses outdoor plays and musicals during the summer, are also available on site. The site hosts a variety of special events throughout the year, such as the Lincoln’s New Salem Flatboat Presentation and Pioneer Life Summer Day Camp. A complete list of activities and events can be found at http://www. lincolnsnewsalem.com/

Maintained by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, New Salem is also home to a nicely equipped campground. You can easily spend at least a day here, if not a weekend, depending on when you’re visiting.

New Salem is about 20 miles northwest of Springfield on Route 97, called Jefferson Street in town. GPS Coordinates - N39.58.550’ W89.50.511. Call 217-632-4000, www. lincolnsnewsalem.com. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Free admission. Suggested donations $2 children ages 12 and under, $4 adults or $10 for a family.

The Lincolns’ church

For 12 years, Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln paid a fee to rent pew 20 at the First Presbyterian Church when they attended services at the church’s location on Washington and Third Streets. Despite the pew rental, Abraham Lincoln never joined this – or any – church. Since then, the church has moved to South Seventh Street, which also served as the location for funeral services for Mary Todd Lincoln.

Between 1890 and 1922, seven memorial windows by the world-famous glassmaker and artist Louis Comfort Tiffany were installed. Until air conditioning proliferated beyond movie houses

and taverns, their bottom portions swung open to permit better air circulation during sweltering summer Sunday services. Sealed and protected against the elements since the mid-1960s, they are historical testament to a unique art form – symphonies of sunlight for citizens and tourists trekking between the nearby Lincoln Home Visitor Center and the Old State Capitol.

First Presbyterian Church, 321 S. Seventh.

Docent-guided tours are available 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Fri., June-September. All other times, group tours may be arranged by calling 217-528-4311. For more information, go to www.lincolnschurch. org/html/Tours.html.

Lincoln ledger

While Lincoln is often referred to as The Great Emancipator, a glimpse at Lincoln’s banking ledger shows that his life was not much different than that of the average citizen. The exhibit features bank statements for expenditures for everyday necessities, such as groceries and monthly mortgage payments. What did he buy? Visit and see for yourself!

The Lincoln ledger is in the Chase bank lobby, Sixth and Washington streets, 217-527-3860. Open 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m.-noon Saturday. Free admission.