Land of Lincoln - Springfield, IL

On our way south from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, we stopped in Green Bay for a night and then drove to Springfield, IL. This was Lincoln's home town when he was elected President. The town in also the capital of Illinois so there is the Old Capitol and the New Capitol. They have done a tremendous job of restoring the town and it is quite quaint.
Above is the train station and below is the entrance to the Lincoln Presidential Museum. This is a tremendous museum with lots of high tech features. Wear a sweater, though, because the temperature is always kept at 70 degrees for the artifacts. Brrrrr! for us humans!




The museum takes you through 2 phases of Lincoln's life. First, is his childhood through to the election and second is his presidency and assassination.





Note: That is Doug standing with Lincoln and his family in the photo above. Below, the Old Capitol where Lincoln served before becoming President.



Above is the Lincoln home as it looked when the Lincolns lived there. Below is formal parlor where the Lincolns would have welcomed guests.



Above is the dining room and below is the family room. All furnishings are authentic to the Lincoln home and are either the actual furniture they left there when they moved to the White House or are reproductions of the authentic furniture. Note how busy the wallpaper and rug is.



Above is the Lincoln bedroom where Abraham Lincoln set. That is his actual wardrobe and dresser. In the photo you can see Lincoln's desk where he many times worked into the night. It was common at that time to have a bedroom suite with separate rooms for the husband and wife. The younger children slept in the mother's room.



Above, you can see a special feature, a potty chair, that Lincoln had made for his wife who did not like to use the outhouse. Below is Mary's bed.


Below is Lincoln's tomb.