Original Lincoln Home Cottage to be Reconstructed

[Anita]

This article is dated July 2, 2020.

"The original cottage where Abraham Lincoln and his family lived before it was expanded into what we now call the Lincoln Home will be reconstructed and opened to visitors under an initiative announced today by The Abraham Lincoln Association."

The association has launched a $400,000 fund drive to acquire land in the 600 block of Eighth Street between Edwards and Cook and to design, construct, landscape and furnish an accurate replica there of the original one-and-a-half-story, six-room Lincoln family dwelling."

Michael Burlingame states in the article "It is misleading to go into the splendidly restored Lincoln Home because it gives you the impression that Lincoln lived in a house that was pretty prosperous for that neighborhood. But in fact most of the years that he was at Eighth and Jackson, they lived in a very modest cottage," Burlingame said. "The Lincoln marriage was notoriously difficult, there was a lot of tension in that family, and one of the reasons why is in part because there was so little space. The cottage replica will give you a better idea how domestic tension could build up within the confines of a relatively modest home, compared to the much more spacious home that we're all used to seeing."

https://www.illinoistimes.com/springfiel...be-rebuilt

[RJNorton]

Thanks for posting, Anita!! That is absolutely amazing. I never thought something like that would happen; I sure hope they can raise the necessary funds.

Here's a sketch from Wayne Temple's By Square and Compass: Saga of the Lincoln Home, p. 33. The drawing was made by Xavier C. Meyer.

[Anita]

I agree Roger! How exciting. I was especially surprised given budget constraints and the economy that the Lincoln Association would embark on the project at this time.

[RJNorton]

I agree Roger! How exciting. I was especially surprised given budget constraints and the economy that the Lincoln Association would embark on the project at this time.

Yes. Illinois is in very bad shape financially. I do not think they can count on the state for much (if any) help on this wonderful project.

[RJNorton]

Plans for the project continue to advance. Quoting from the Abraham Lincoln Association's latest edition of For The People:

"The ALA's Lincoln's Springfield Cottage proposal will soon be presented to the U.S. Department of the Interior for formal review and, we hope, a timely approval. Much has been accomplished to reach this watershed point."

Plan drawings for the cottage are complete and included in For The People.

[Anita]

Great news! Thanks for the update Roger.

[Gene C]

"There's no place like home"

This seems to be true regarding the Lincoln Cottage Reconstruction project.
According to the author of this website, who has some impressive credentials, there appears to be some misrepresentations being made regarding this project
I found this item on Abraham Lincoln online.org

https://www.hellonorm.com/cottage/index.html

Your thoughts?

[RJNorton]

The mention of an 1846 addition was new to me. I looked in Dr. Wayne C. Temple's book entitled By Square and Compass, and I cannot find mention of it. Maybe I am just missing it. If anyone on the forum has that book and can locate information on this 1846 addition in Dr. Temple's book please post the page number(s).

Many thanks!

[Anita]

"There's no place like home"

This seems to be true regarding the Lincoln Cottage Reconstruction project.
According to the author of this website, who has some impressive credentials, there appears to be some misrepresentations being made regarding this project
I found this item on Abraham Lincoln online.org

https://www.hellonorm.com/cottage/index.html

Your thoughts?

Gene I agree that Norman Hellmer's article is well documented and credible. It raises important issues about the accuracy of the construction plan for the Lincoln Cottage. Is it historically accurate?

Hellmer writes" • The ALA’s claim that they can construct “a replica of the home of Abraham Lincoln . . . as it existed from 1844-1856,” is impossible.
• Already in about 1846, the Lincolns added a bedroom and a pantry downstairs making it an eight-room house, which the ALA ignores.
• The Lincoln family lived in the enlarged, eight-room house for about ten years. They did not live in the original six-room cottage for twelve years, as the ALA claims."
This and other concerns Hellmer raises should be addressed by the ALA. I haven't found any replies.

Hellmer's site gives this link to the LOC to see the drawings of the Lincoln home from 1939 to 1986 showing the various additions. https://www.loc.gov/item/il0549/
Concern: I can't find information on what these drawings used as a source. Did they have the original blue prints? Also I can find no mention of the 1846 addition in any letters by Mary, family, or neighbors. I haven't had much time to do a good search.

---

The mention of an 1846 addition was new to me. I looked in Dr. Wayne C. Temple's book entitled By Square and Compass, and I cannot find mention of it. Maybe I am just missing it. If anyone on the forum has that book and can locate information on this 1846 addition in Dr. Temple's book please post the page number(s).

Many thanks!

Roger, I can't find my copy of Temple's book but as I replied to Gene I can't find a source for the addition other than the NPS and the LOC drawings. Those are very credible sources but as I posted to Gene, I'd like to find where it's mentioned by Mary, her family, neighbors or other firsthand references.

[Anita]

July 8, 2021

The Honorable Joe Manchin, Chairman
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
U.S. Senate,
304 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510 The Honorable John Barrasso, Ranking Member
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
U.S. Senate,
304 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Subject: Opposition to S. 1812 – A bill to expand Lincoln Home National Historic Site

Go here to read this letter.
https://protectnps.org/2021/07/08/coalit...-home-nhs/

[RJNorton]

Here are all the changes/additions the coalition is talking about:

https://www.nps.gov/liho/learn/historycu...nology.htm

[Joe Di Cola]

I meant to respond yesterday but was away at a funeral.
I agree completely with every point of the response and letter OPPOSING the bizarre idea of erecting a replica of the Dresser/Lincoln cottage. In recreating the Lincoln neighborhood, the NPS removed structures that were not present in 1861, restored extant structures to their 1861 appearance, and made other efforts to enhance visitor experiences to the neighborhood--including the restoration of the Lincoln home to its 1861 appearance. So why is there support for the proposed project?! The cottage was modified at least twice before the major construction that added a full second story. These changes made by the Lincolns are detailed in a document prepared by the Historic American Building Survey published by the NPS in 2015.
The Lincoln neighborhood should not be "Disneyized" with the proposed replica cottage. Walk down South Eighth Street some evening when there are fewer visitors about. When you pass the Lincoln home, you almost expect the front door of the home to open and to hear greetings from the Lincolns. The addition of the replica cottage will introduce fakery into the Lincoln neighborhood experience. What can the proposers and supporters be thinking?

[Steve]

I agree it's rediculous to build a facimile cottage for a building that is still standing in an historically accurate state right there. Waste of money. You can set up a display in the Lincoln house showing the history of the extensions of the house when the Lincoln lived there. It would probably be more historically useful to help a casual visitor understand/visualize the historical development of the Lincoln Home anyway.

I don't understand the Coalition's opposition to including the Elijah Isles house to the Lincoln Home National Historic Site, though.

[Joe Di Cola]

I agree it's rediculous to build a facimile cottage for a building that is still standing in an historically accurate state right there. Waste of money. You can set up a display in the Lincoln house showing the history of the extensions of the house when the Lincoln lived there. It would probably be more historically useful to help a casual visitor understand/visualize the historical development of the Lincoln Home anyway.

I don't understand the Coalition's opposition to including the Elijah Isles house to the Lincoln Home National Historic Site, though.

Steve,
The Dana House, across the street from the Lincoln Home, has a number of dioramas (beautifully done) depicting the changes to the home during the years the Lincolns lived there.
Possible objections to inclusion of the Iles home might be that its site is not contiguous with the NPS site. Also, I believe the Iles House has been relocated a number of times.

[Gene C]

While not as an attractive project, but perhaps a more educational one, would be to reconstruct the "half face camp" structure that the Lincoln's lived in when they first moved to Indiana. Less expensive to build, it would show the visitors to the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial how primitive the conditions that not only the Lincoln family lived in, but many of the new arrivals to the area, and have a greater appreciation of the challenges they faced.