Springfield, Illinois (Mattoon Trip)

While we were in Illinois we decided to go and see Lincoln's Tomb, unfortunately when we arrived in Springfield we were advised it was closed for the weekend. We would have been able to walk around it but I didn't really want to do that so we skipped that. Luckily everything else was still open so we decided to go and see a replica of the house he lived in. His house was originally in this lot, and although the main structure is original they had to re-construct most of it.


This is the Springfield visitor's center which used to be the central train station I believe maybe it was bus, not entirely sure, it was absolutely beautiful there. The statue of Lincoln I was huge you can see the comparison when Bert stands near it.






This is the old capitol building, they have since built a new one but keep this one open for a museum. We didn't go in though we were on a time schedule!


While walking to the Lincoln house we came upon this church and the bottom of the sign caught my eye. I had no idea that Lincoln went to a Presbyterian church. I was advised by the person inside that he wasn't Presbyterian but Mary Lincoln was and it was the regular practice then for the men to pick up the women's religion. Either way he did go to this church.

This is the pew that Lincoln's family sat in every Sunday you can see there are plaques on the side of it, and it wasn't unusual for families to sit in the same seat every Sunday.




These are pictures of the inside of the church, none of these items were there when Lincoln attended but they make really nice additions to the church. The stained glass were beautiful, and the organ was added to the church in 2003.

The Lincoln home, again this is an exact replica of what stood there when Lincoln lived there. When they originally bought the house it was a single story however when they had more children they added on, making it a two story home. Below are some pictures of the inside of the house.

This kitchen was no bigger than a nice size bathroom, of course there was no running water so there isn't a kitchen sink or anything. The stove in the bottom right corner was the original stove and did belong to the Lincolns.

We really had a nice time in Springfield, it has a lot of Lincoln history.