Mary Todd Lincoln House
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Mary Todd Lincoln House
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| Location: | Lexington, Kentucky |
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| Coordinates: | 38°3′4.87″N 84°30′10.03″W / 38.0513528°N 84.5027861°WCoordinates: 38°3′4.87″N 84°30′10.03″W / 38.0513528°N 84.5027861°W |
| Built: | 1832 |
| Architect: | Unknown |
| Architectural style: | Georgian |
| Governing body: | Private |
| NRHP Reference#: | 71000341[1] |
| Added to NRHP: | August 12, 1971 |
Mary Todd Lincoln House at 578 West Main Street in Lexington, Kentucky, USA, was the family home of the future first lady and wife of the 16th President, Mary Todd Lincoln. The three story home was the home of Robert S. Todd and his family. The family moved to the home in 1832. Mary Todd lived in this home till 1839 when she moved to Springfield, Illinois.
The house was built c.1803-1806 as an inn and tavern which was called "The Sign of the Green Tree" before its purchase by the Todd family. Todd was the president of the Lexington Branch of the Bank of Kentucky and also served in the Kentucky General Assembly for 24 years. He was actively involved in the grocery business in Lexington as well as a cotton-manufacturing firm.
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[edit] Historic status
The Mary Todd Lincoln house has the distinction of being the first historic site restored in honor of a First Lady.[2] The home is operated by the Kentucky Mansions Preservation Foundation, Inc. and was opened to the public on June 9, 1977.
[edit] Museum
In the mid-1970s, Beula C. Nunn, wife of Governor Louie B. Nunn, along with Kentucky Mansions Preservation Foundation, Inc., and the Metropolitan Women's Club of Lexington, was responsible for the preservation and restoration of the Mary Todd Lincoln House. In June 1996, the Beula C. Nunn Garden at the Mary Todd Lincoln House was dedicated and opened to the public. Today the enclosed gardens contain trees, plants, herbs and shrubs that represent what may have been in the gardens at the Todd home in the early nineteenth century. The gardens are cared for by the Lexington Soil Mates Garden Club and the Bluegrass Herb Guild.[3]
The home is open to the public.
[edit] Unusual history
Lexington madame Belle Brezing was a working girl in a bawdy house, run by Jenny Hill, located in this building starting in 1879,[4] before becoming a madam in her own right. Brezing is widely credited as being an inspiration for the character of Belle Watling in Gone With The Wind.[5]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2007-01-23. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html.
- ^ National Park Service - Mary Todd Lincoln House
- ^ Bluegrass Herb Guild
- ^ Belle Brezing - retrieved 20, June, 2008
- ^ Lexington Herald Leader - 9, April, 2008 - retrieved 20, June, 2008
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- 1800s architecture in the United States
- Abraham Lincoln
- Biographical museums in Kentucky
- Brothels in the United States
- Historic house museums in Kentucky
- Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky
- Lexington in the American Civil War
- Museums in Lexington, Kentucky
- National Register of Historic Places in Lexington, Kentucky
- Women's museums in the United States
- Houses completed in 1832
- Houses in Lexington, Kentucky
- History of women in Kentucky
