What’s up everybody?
For this weeks post we are headed back to Springfield, as we continue to checkout more of the Lincoln historical sites. Last week we had talked about Lincoln Home National Historical Site, but that was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg that can be found in Springfield’s Historical District. Everything within the Historical District is about a fifteen minute walk from each other.
As we wondered though the streets of the Historical District, we came across the Old State Capital and the Lincoln - Herndon Law Office Building.
The Old Capital building was not the first capital building to be built. In fact, it was the fifth to be built. The original capital of Illinois was in Vandalia, a town found toward the southern end of the state. The new capital building was built in 1837 after a caucus of nine lawmaker, which included our main man Abraham Lincoln, successfully lobbied to move the capital to the more central town of Springfield. This building was the setting for many of the events in Lincolns adult life. From inside these walls he had plead many of his cases to the Supreme Court, where he served his final term as a State Lawmaker and where he gave his famous House Divide Speech. It was also where he announce his candidacy for President of the United States in 1858, much like his contemporary Bararck Obama would do some 150 years later in 2007. This would continue to be the Capital Building until the 1870’s, when the small building could no longer support the growing needs of the state and a newer capital building would be built.
The next stop on our walkabout of the district was the Lincoln - Herndon Law Office building. The Lincoln - Herndon Law Office building was part of the much larger brick building know as the Tinsley Block. Named after local developer and builder of the structure Seth M. Tinsley. The Block was built to supply office space for the many workers that were flocking to the new capital of Springfield. Lincoln and his original partner, Stephen T. Logan, moved their law office into the third floor of the Tinsley Block. They worked together for sometime until they decided to go their separate ways in 1844. Lincoln continued to work out of this office and would eventually take on a junior partner, William H. Herndon. They successfully worker from this space until they moved to a new office in 1852. Now a days part of the original Tinsley Block has been torn down, but the Lincoln - Herndon Office was safe from the demolitions and preserved. The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (IHPA) took control of the building in 1985 and has worked hard to restore the building back to resemble how it looked in the 1840s.
The Cherry on top of this Historical District sundae is, of course, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (ALPM). In my opinion, the ALPM is the biggest draw for tourist that are visiting downtown Springfield. With the exception of the Lincoln Home. The ALPM consists of three buildings: Springfield Union Station, the Lincoln Museum and the Lincoln Library.
The Springfield Union Station was, obviously, primarily a train station. It was built in 1896 and operated as a passenger hub for several railway companies, but was predominantly used by Illinois Central. Trains would continue to operate out of this station until April of 1971 when the completion of the Amtrak train hub ceased control of all passenger traffic in and out of Springfield. After the train traffic to the station had ended, it was used for private business and also state offices. In 2004 it was absorbed into the ALPM and underwent major restoration. three years later in 2007 it would reopen its doors as the new Visitor Center for the ALMP. Currently it is housing Lincoln: History to Hollywood exhibit. On display are costumes and props from the Steven Spielberg film Lincoln (2012). Starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln and Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln.
All right lets get into the nuts and bolts of it. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and museum are two massive buildings. Located across the street from each other and both respectively take up a city block. The entrances were built to pay homage to the rotunda of the Old State Capital Building. The Library was opened on October 14, 2004. Half a year later the Museum would open its doors on April 19, 2005. Prior to the ALPM opening, Ford’s Theatre in Washington DC was considered the “Lincoln Museum”.
I’ll be honest the Library is not really a touristy location. For all intense of purposes, it is a research library. It contain many artifacts that pertain to Lincoln and his legacy. Also held within the walls of the Lincoln Library is the Illinois State Historical Library. In this collection you can find many historically significant artifact that pertain to the state of Illinois. Such as paper, manuscripts, pamphlets, and other miscellaneous item. The Lincoln Library is open to the public, but their rare collections are non-circulative.
The Museum is were all the action happens. The moment that we walk into the main forum of the museum, we were awe-struct by what we seen. The Lincoln family was there to pose for picture with all the visitors. Of course, they were mannequins so they really didn’t have a choice in the matter. From the forum we had several option that we could take to explore. A helpful greeter was happy to give his advice on how to proceed through the museum. The museum is, for the most part, divided into four section: The Pre-Presidential years, the Presidential Years, Treasury Gallery, and the Rotating Exhibit. It also includes two theater that show some interesting movies about Lincoln and the museum itself.
We decide to start where it all began and headed towards the Pre-Presidential area. We start our journey into Lincoln earlier years by passing through a recreation of the log cabin that he grew up in. Its interesting to me that a great man like Lincoln could come from such humbling begins. Maybe it was these humble beginnings that made him such a great man. Leaving the cabin we come upon a display of a slave trader in the process of auctioning off some slaves. It was a scene like this, that Lincoln had seen as child, which started to influence the way he thought about equality. As we travelled further in, we came upon his Springfield years. This was a very important time for Lincoln, as he met Mary Todd, started a family, ran a successful law firm, and started on his political path to the Whitehouse.
What better way to view Lincolns Presidential Years then to step through the doors of the Whitehouse. As we enter, we are greeted by several of Mary Todd’s formal dresses. They still look as elegant and regal as they did back when she first had them. This section of the museum documents Lincolns years as president and the event of the Civil War. As you would expect, this is the bigger of the two section as many important things happened during this time of Lincolns life. I tend to think that I am a knowledgable person, but as we continued through the museum I quick came to the understanding that I didn’t know as much I thought I did. I understood that many of the Southern States were not happy with the policies that he was trying to implement. We became quite aware of this as we enter a room that was filled with political cartoon that depicted him in a bad light. This was interesting to me because we tend to see him as a great man that did great things, but at the time he was seen by many as someone that was trying to destroy there livelihood. It kind of puts things in a different perspective. The last exhibit was a somber one. We entered into a dimly light room and sitting in the middle of the room sat a replica of Lincolns casket. For me, I took a quite moment to ponder upon the events, good and bad, that lead to that point. Its hard to think but he did die for what he believed in and the many are grateful for his sacrifices.
All in all the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum is definitely something that should been seen. It is full of history and for someone like me who has the thirst for knowledge they won't be disappointed. It helped me to open my eyes just a little wider on one of Americas greats icons and it will for you as well.
We hoped you enjoy a quick tour of Springfield's Historical District.
Thanks for stopping by.
Josh
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