Lincoln Home National Historic Site

Lincoln Home National Historic Site
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
Location	Springfield, Illinois, United States
Nearest city	Springfield, Illinois
Coordinates	39°47′50″N 89°38′42″W
Area	12.24 acres (4.95 ha)
Established	August 18, 1971
Visitors	419,552 (in 2005)
Governing body	National Park Service
Website	Lincoln Home National Historic Site

Lincoln Home National Historic Site preserves the Springfield, Illinois home and a historic district where Abraham Lincoln lived from 1844 to 1861, before becoming the 16th President of the United States. The presidential memorial includes the four blocks surrounding the home and a visitor center.

Historic site

In 1837, Lincoln moved to Springfield from New Salem at the start of his law career. He met his wife, Mary Todd, at her sister's home in Springfield and married there in 1842.

The historic-site house, purchased by Lincoln and his wife in 1844, was the only home that Lincoln ever owned. Their children, four sons, were born there and one, Eddie died there. Located at the corner of Eighth and Jackson Streets, the house contains twelve rooms spread over two floors. During the time he lived here, Lincoln was elected to the House of Representatives in 1846, and elected President in 1860.

Lincoln's son, Robert Todd Lincoln donated the family home to the State of Illinois in 1887 under the condition that it would forever be well maintained and open to the public at no charge. This came as a result of tenants who would charge those who wanted to visit Lincoln's home and that many tenants tended to leave the home in disrepair. The home and Lincoln Tomb, also in Springfield, were designated National Historic Landmarks on December 19, 1960, and automatically listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. The home and adjacent district became a National Historic Site on August 18, 1971 and is owned and administered by the National Park Service. It is one of two National Park Service properties in Illinois.

Along with the Lincoln Home, several other structures within the four-block area are also preserved. All the homes have been restored to their appearance during the time Lincoln lived in the neighborhood. Two of these structures, the Dean House and the Arnold House, are open to visitors and house exhibits on the life and times of Lincoln and his neighbors. In total, the buildings included in the park occupy 12 acres (49,000 m²).

Neighborhood

Nearby in Springfield are the Old State Capitol where Lincoln served as a State Legislator, the building which housed the law offices of Lincoln and his partner William Herndon from 1844 until 1852, and the Lincoln Depot from which Lincoln left the city for his 1861 inauguration.

Photo gallery

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  Lincoln home historic district
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  Most photographed corner of the Lincoln home
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  1858 house of Jesse K. Dubois, a political ally of Lincoln

See also

• Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site, Kentucky
• Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Illinois
• Ford's Theatre National Historic Site, Washington, DC
• Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial, Indiana
• Lincoln Tomb, Illinois
• Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC
• Lincoln's New Salem, Illinois
• Mount Rushmore National Memorial, South Dakota
• Lincoln Highway, Transcontinental

External links

• Official NPS website: Lincoln Home National Historic Site
• National Historic Landmark information
• Lincoln Home National Historic Site:A Place of Growth and Memory, a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan
• "Life Portrait of Abraham Lincoln", from C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits, broadcast from Lincoln Home National Historic Site, June 28, 1999