Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site, part of the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area, preserves the 19th-century home of Thomas and Sarah Bush Lincoln, father and step-mother of the 16th president of the USA.
Abraham Lincoln was a lawyer living in Springfield by the time his parents moved here, but his burgeoning law practice often brought him to Charleston and the farm, especially during the 1840s. Abraham Lincoln also owned a portion of the farm which he deeded back to his father and step-mother for their use during their lifetime.
Today, the site includes an accurate reproduction of the Lincolns’ two-room cabin that was reconstructed on the original cabin site in 1935-1936 as a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) project. The cabin reconstruction was based on photographs and affidavits, since the original was lost following its move to the Columbian Exposition in 1892. Both rooms are furnished with items and artifacts of the 1840s, though none are known to have belonged to the Lincolns. Today the Thomas Lincoln Farm comes to life through our historic interpreters. The house and surrounding farm are still being used as they were then and our interpreters portray the family members and neighbours who lived in the area.
A working, living history farm has been developed around the cabin, and a second historic farmstead, that of Stephen and Nancy Sargent, has been moved to the site to help broaden visitors’ understanding both of life in the 19th century and Lincoln’s legal practice in the community. The site also includes the Moore Home, where Lincoln bid farewell to his family in 1861 before leaving to assume the Presidency, and the gravesites of Thomas and Sarah Lincoln at the Thomas Lincoln Cemetery.
Text source: lincolnlogcabin.org
