Only National Park in Illinois: Lincoln's Home... by deecat
Go to the Visitor Center to get your time/ticket for tour [on a first come, first serve basis.] The home is open daily from 8:30 am until 5:00 pm [longer hours in the summer]Lincoln Home National Historic Site is Illinois only National Park, and it is run by the National Park Service Lincoln's home has been restored as it was in the 1860s, and it stands in the middle of a four block historic neighborhood which the National Park Service is also restoring; then, the neighborhood, like Lincoln's home, will be as Lincoln would have known it.
This home is a Greek Revival house and was the Lincoln's home for 17 years. They bought it in 1844 for $1,200. At that time, it was much smaller than it is today. The Lincolns enlarged their home to a full two stories in 1856 because of their growing family.
Three of the Lincoln sons were born her, and, sadly, one son [Edward] died here when he was 4 years old in 1850.
When Lincoln won the 1860 Republican Presidential nomination, he received a delegation of party officials in the parlor of this home. As a presidential candidate, this house was filled with visitors and served as a rallie location. Lincoln held his farewell reception in 1961 at this home.
Then the Lincolns rented it, sold most of the furniture, and gave the family dog to a neighbor.
This Historic District is closed to traffic, which makes it wonderful for those touring this site. Our tour included a guide for inside the house. We took a self-guided tour of the neighborhood. It was a thrill to hear about and to actually walk inside the home that Abraham Lincoln and his family lived in for 17 years.
