This Day in Illinois History: Nixon Signs Bill to Make Lincoln Home a National Historic Site

On this date (August 18) in 1971, President Richard Nixon visited Springfield, IL and signed legislation making Abraham Lincoln's home and the adjacent property a National Historic Site.

We didn't visit Abe's home on our recent trip to Springfield, but you can click here to view the post about our visit, which included stops at additional Lincoln historic sites, including Honest Abe's tomb.

Pic of the Week: The Lincoln Memorial at Early Morning

In honor of my upcoming trip to Washington, DC, I'm posting this photo of the Lincoln Memorial I took during a recent early morning run while on a work trip to the Nation's Capital. Rarely will you see the Memorial without crowds of tourists, and looking this deserted.

From Nothing beats a scenic early morning run ... barefoot

Honest Abe, Adlai I, and Historic Metamora, IL

As a young lawyer, Abraham Lincoln traveled the Illinois' famed 8th Judicial Circuit -- heading from town to town, representing his clients in now-historic courthouses across central Illinois.

One of the towns on the 8th Circuit was Metamora, located in Woodford County a short drive from the city of Peoria.

On a recent trip through central Illinois, after stopping by the Reagan Museum at Eureka College, we headed north for about 15 minutes to visit Metamora.

On the way into Metamora, on Route 23, there is actually a small Lincoln plaque on the side of the road that servers as a reminder that Lincoln once traveled the same route during his 8th Circuit Days.

The small downtown area borders the Village Park on the Square. Across from that park is the historic Metamora Courthouse, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. Unfortunately, the courthouse was undergoing renovation and we were unable to go inside.

Across from the courthouse, in the Village Park, is a statue of Honest Abe with his wife, Mary Todd. Here's a photo of the statue with the courthouse in the background.

Metamora is also home to the former home of Adlai E. Stevenson I, who served as Vice President of the United States from 1893-1897. As you can see from this plaque, Stevenson and his wife moved into this house shortly after their marriage, and he practiced law in the Metamora Courthouse. If you recall, we previously visited Stevenson's grave in our post about Bloomington's Evergreen Cemetery.

Metamora was a quick stop, but chock full of history. I hope to visit again once the courthouse renovation is complete and grab some photos of the interior.

In the meantime, the slideshow below contains all my pics from our brief Metamora visit:

Historic Route 66: Pontiac, IL

I had driven through Pontiac before for some work-related activities and, of course, knew about the state correctional facility located in town.

But I had never stopped to get a glimpse of the really neat downtown area that is so full of history.

First, Pontiac really does roll out the red carpet for Route 66 sightseers like me.

For one thing, the town is home to the Route 66 Association Hall of Fame & Museum which, I'm sad to say, I was closed by the time I came to town. The back alley behind the museum, however, had a number of great murals and and other nostalgic items that I also feature in my photos.

Speaking of murals, Pontiac has twenty of them plastered around town, each of which depicts a little bit of local history. I've was able to capture just a few in my photo set, and I encourage you to click here to view a more complete set of the downtown mural collection.

At the center of downtown Pontiac is the historic Livingston County Courthouse, construction of which began in 1874. The courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

As with Lincoln and Bloomington, Pontiac was also a stop on the famed 8th Judicial Circuit that was traveled by then-lawyer Abraham Lincoln. In 2006, this Lincoln statue was dedicated on the grounds of the Livingston County Courthouse.

Speaking of Honest Abe, Pontiac was also home to an impromptu debate in 1840 between Lincoln and then-lawyer Stephen Douglas on the banks of the Vermillion River (see photo of the historical marker here.) It's not considered one of the official "Lincoln-Douglas Debates", but it was a debate between these two men, nonetheless, and Pontiac is darn proud to have hosted it.

Pontiac was created by an Act of Congress in 1937 and is named for the Ottawa Indian Chief Pontiac, for whom this memorial sits on the courthouse grounds. Pontiac came to Illinois after gaming notoriety for the "Pontiac's Rebellion" near what is now the city of Detroit, Michigan. That rebellion involved a violent struggle against British occupation in the Great Lakes Region. He continued to encourage rebellion against the British, in Illinois and over in the Ohio Region, until he was murdered near Cahokia, IL (not far from what is now St. Louis) by a Peoria Indian.

In future posts, we'll come back to discussing Pontiac and the Ottawa tribe in Illinois. In the meantime, here is a helpful link that describes in more detail the Indian tribes of Illinois.

Unfortunately, it was getting late, and my trip to Pontiac was all too brief. I'll definitely be back, if only to stop by the Route 66 Museum and try Bernardi's restaurant, which sits on the courthouse square and has a reputation for excellent food.

I was only able to post a few of my photos from Pontiac here, so I encourage you to click here to view my entire collection.

Historic Route 66: Bloomington, IL (Part II: David Davis Mansion)

Earlier this week, we posted about our first stop in Bloomington, IL: — the Stevenson graves.

We then headed on over to the historic David Davis Mansion (pictured, right).

As we learned in our tour of the Postville Courthouse, David Davis had served as judge on the same 8th Judicial Circuit (from 1848 to 1862) traveled by then-lawyer Abraham Lincoln. Prior to that, Davis had served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives in 1845 and a delegate to the Illinois constitutional convention in McLean County, 1847.

Davis served as a delegate to the 1860 Republican National Convention in Chicago, where Lincoln received the nomination for president. Davis went on to serve as Lincoln's campaign manager in that election.

In 1862, Lincoln appointed Davis to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1972, he received the nomination of the Labor Reform Party to be president of the United States — but then dropped out of the contest when he failed to receive the Liberal Republican Party nomination. Ulysses S. Grant, of course, went on to win that election (the U.S. Grant home in Galena, IL, will certainly be a future stop documented on this blog).

In 1977, the Illinois legislature selected Davis to serve as U.S. Senator (senators were not popularly elected in most states in those days), and resigned his seat on the Supreme Court.

During his first and only term as U.S. Senator, he ascended to the President Pro Tempore position, and then retired in 1883 to his home in Bloomington. He died in 1886, and is actually buried at Evergreen Cemetery, which we visited to find the Stevenson graves earlier on our trip.

I invite you to read the full Wikipedia post on Davis' life, which details some key, historic decisions he handed down while on the Supreme Court.

Unfortunately, I arrived at the Davis Mansion after it had closed to visitors for the day. I encourage you to visit the historic site's Web site to learn about the ongoing exhibits and events they feature on a regular basis.

Historic Route 66: Lincoln, IL

The third stop on my sightseeing trip of historic Route 66 was Lincoln, IL, the fascinating county seat of Logan County.

Please read my previous posts about Dwight, Springfield, Broadwell and Atlanta-McLean.

Upon entering Lincoln, I happened upon the historic Postville Courthouse, which is actually a reproduction of the 1848 courthouse in which then-lawyer Abraham Lincoln frequently argued cases while traveling the 8th Judicial Circuit. At the time, what is now the town of Lincoln was named Postville.

The town changed its name in August 27, 1853 — naming it after Abraham Lincoln, who was then just a popular lawyer. As Wikipedia reports:

The town was officially named on August 27, 1853 in an unusual ceremony. Abraham Lincoln, having assisted with the platting of the town and working as counsel for the newly laid railroad which led to its founding, was asked to participate in a naming ceremony for the town. During the proceedings, Lincoln chose a ripe watermelon from a nearby wagon, broke it open, and squeezed the juice on the grounds, as an informal rite of baptism. The town of Lincoln was the first city named after Abraham Lincoln while he was a lawyer and before he was President of the United States.

In terms of the old Postville Courthouse, it is now a state historic site staffed by wonderful volunteers. The volunteer who was staffing it while I visited — her name is Wilma — provide me with a delightful 45-minute tour of hte courthouse, complete with funny anecdotes and detailed descriptions of the artifacts and furniture contained in the building.

The courthouse that exists today is a 1953 reproduction of the original building, due to the fact that Henry Ford purchased the original courthouse in 1929 and moved it to his estate in Dearborn, Michigan.

Following the courthouse, I made my way to the downtown area of Lincoln, which features its historic Logan County Courthouse, as well as a small monument marking the spot where Abraham Lincoln christened the town with a watermelon.

Please enjoy the photos below. You can click on any photo in the slideshow to view a description summary.