Your Favorite Lincoln Sites

[Dave B]

I have two. Lincoln Home National Historic Site and Mt. Pulaski Courthouse State Historic Site.
It's quite an experience to be precisely where Lincoln was. Especially so at Mt Pulaski, where the floor of the second floor courtroom is original. When my wife and I visited in June of 2019 no one else was there. We sat in the courtroom and took it all in. Walked around the room as Lincoln did when he argued cases on that exact spot. Very interesting indeed.

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What Lincoln sites interest you the most?

[Rob Wick]

That's a difficult one to answer. A few years ago a college friend was leading a tour of the Lincoln sites in Kentucky and asked me if I would go along to provide some historical context. I gladly accepted and was able to see the Hodgenville birthplace and the Knob Creek Farm. Also, the boyhood site in Spencer County, Indiana that I have visited with forum members Gene C. and Joe DiCola. Then, of course there's the Springfield sites that I first visited over 50 years ago and have visited several times since. For me it isn't so much the site as who I am with. As many times as I have been to Springfield the first forum trip stands out for the company I shared. I finally got to see the outside of where it ended when I appeared in the National Geographic documentary "The Hunt for Lincoln's Assassin" in 2007 when I saw Ford's Theater for the first time. Of course, dummy me didn't think about turning around and seeing the Petersen House, but I did visit the Garrett Farm site, which helped me get closer to Everton Conger.

I can't choose just one.

Best
Rob

[Dave B]

I was asking about sites, plural. I've been to a few that you mentioned but for me they're not as interesting as the ones where you know for a fact that Lincoln sat there or stood here. In that exact location. As opposed to, say, Lincoln's visit to Antietam.

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I too failed to even think about the Petersen House when I visited Ford's years ago.
A side issue. The flag that was folded and placed under Lincoln's head as he lay in Petersen House, last I heard, that flag is in a little museum in Milford, Pennsylvania and not in the Smithsonian or any other major museum.

[RJNorton]

For me it's Ford's Theatre/Petersen House.

[David Lockmiller]

Lincoln Tomb in Springfield, Illinois.

You cannot get any closer to President Abraham Lincoln.

The materials for the memorial came from many parts of the United States.

There is Gutzon Borglum's head of Lincoln situated immediately in front, which I believe is the finest sculpture of Abraham Lincoln and has an appeal to everyone who want to touch his nose for luck and good fortune.

And, there is a memorial gift from the people of Italy, a stone from the Servian Wall in Rome, originally inscribed in Latin, with a translation that reads: "To Abraham Lincoln, President for the second time of the American Republic, citizens of Rome present this stone from the wall of Servius Tullius by which the memory of each of those brave advocates of liberty may be associated." Ancient Romans built this fortification around the 4th Century BC and it protected the city for about seven hundred years, becoming a symbol of Roman republicanism, freedom, and independence.

Four bronze statues at the base of the tomb's obelisk represent the U. S. infantry, navy, artillery, and cavalry of the Civil War in action.

And a statue of Lincoln stands in front alone holding a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, which ultimately led to the end of slavery in the United States.

[Rob Wick]

I thought of another site. When we were in Springfield for the forum trip I wanted to find the original site of Roland Diller's drug store. Not only did Lincoln visit there but it was also where Ida Tarbell met Diller and got the information for "He Knew Lincoln." The site is marked by a sign at the front of the current building, which if I'm not mistaken is a drug store. I'll check when I get home from work.

Best
Rob

[STS Lincolnite]

(10-04-2023 10:38 AM)Rob Wick Wrote:  I thought of another site. When we were in Springfield for the forum trip I wanted to find the original site of Roland Diller's drug store. Not only did Lincoln visit there but it was also where Ida Tarbell met Diller and got the information for "He Knew Lincoln." The site is marked by a sign at the front of the current building, which if I'm not mistaken is a drug store. I'll check when I get home from work.

Best
Rob

The site of the Corneau-Diller drug store was on the east side of the court house square in Springfield (or at least is was in 1859). And as you mentioned Rob, there is an interpretive marker near the site. I am including a link to a blog that has images of each side of the square that were taken c.1859.

If you look at the picture for the east side of the square, in about the center of the image you can see the Corneau-Diller drugstore (the name is on the front) if you zoom in. It is just to the right of a small alley that separates it from the building with the awning.

https://sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/?p=8121

[Rob Wick]

Boy, was I off.

The plaque marking the Corneau-Driller drug store is now affixed to a Cold Stone Creamery. That's what I get for thinking my mind is as sharp as it once was. Here is a picture of Cheryl and me standing in front of the plaque.



Here is an interior shot of the drug store from the 1870s. The photo was printed in a book called The Sangamon Saga.



Notice the stove to the right rear of the store. It is the same stove (at least according to Tarbell's story) that Lincoln and others sat around.

Thanks for showing the block photos, Scott.

Best
Rob