History of the Lincoln neighborhood

[historybuff22]

Here's a link to an excellent photo-essay of the history of the Lincoln neighborhood in Springfield, Illinois. I learned very much and found it facsinating.

Produced by the Springfield Register

Rick Brown
HistoryReference.org
A Nonprofit Organization

"Not everything you read on the internet is true." Abraham Lincoln

[Gene C]

Thanks for sharing Rick, that was great.

Hope you don't mind this shameless plug
See how it looks today by joining your Friends from the Forum for the 2015 Springfield Tour, this coming Oct 2 & 3.
I'm bringing a copy of that article with me.

[historybuff22]

To me, the current "Lincoln neighborhood" looks NOTHING like the original.

Rick Brown
HistoryReference.org
A Nonprofit Organization

"Not everything you read on the Internet is true." Abraham Lincoln

[Eva Elisabeth]

GREAT article and photos - thank you so much for sharing!

[RJNorton]

I second Gene and Eva. As a "survivor" of 20+ Springfield trips with the 8th graders I must admit the students in a couple of those photos look more organized/better behaved than our kids were.

I think I'll put in another plug for Lincoln's Springfield Neighborhood by Bonnie Paull and Richard Hart. Wonderful book.

[Gene C]

Here is an interesting old photograph of Lincoln's home in Springfield

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:...d_home.jpg

[RJNorton]

Thanks, Gene. That one is new to me.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Neat. In no other photo the home looks so "gemütlich". Looks like there are streetcar tracks???

[RJNorton]

Neat. In no other photo the home looks so "gemütlich". Looks like there are streetcar tracks???

Yes, Eva.

"At the turn of the century, people visited the Lincoln Home either by horse and carriage or by Springfield's streetcars that operated on Eighth Street directly in front of the house."

https://www.nps.gov/features/liho/25/25.htm

[Gene C]

Thanks for the link Roger, the park website has more information on it than I thought.

Here is one of the many interesting brochures, this one is titled "Lincoln's Hired Girls"
https://www.nps.gov/liho/planyourvisit/u...lletin.pdf

More brochures are under the "Plan Your Visit" heading.

[RJNorton]

In the link Gene provided one of the hired ladies mentioned was named Charlotte Rodriques De Souza. I was interested to note that she felt Abraham Lincoln was better looking than his photos show. I have heard this opinion stated by a few other people, too.

"Mrs. De Souza, who knew the man in life, says that few of his pictures resemble him. She recalls him as a more handsome man than his pictures depict."

From p. 88 of Lincoln's Springfield Neighborhood.