Lincoln Log Cabin

Teachers in Illinois schools (grades prekindergarten through 12) can apply for grant funds to visit this site on a field trip with their students.

Located on the Lincoln Highway, eight miles south of Charleston, Lincoln Log Cabin preserves the site of the last home and farm of Abraham Lincoln’s father and stepmother, Thomas (ca. 1778-1851) and Sarah Bush Lincoln (1788-1869). The Lincolns moved to the farm in 1837.

Featured is the restored frmstead which recreates daily life and agircultural practices as they existed in mid-19th century Illinos.  At the Lincoln Farm, interpreters carry out generations-old agricultural activities that may have been practiced by Thomas Lincoln and his extended family. A replica of his last home, erected in 1935 by the Civilian Conservation Corps, sits in the location of the original cabin. Nearby is a large nineteenth-century log double-crib barn, moved to the site in 1981. Reproduction nineteenth-century farm structures include a log smokehouse, a well, root cellar, hog pens with hog shelters, a sheep pen, chicken house, and numerous garden and orchard fences. 

As a lawyer, Abraham Lincoln had the chance to visit Coles County & his family on a regular basis.  Traveling the eighth judical circuit, Lincoln appeared each spring and fall to take on a wide variety of court cases for his clients, which ocassionally, included family.

Travel betwwen the different courthuses along the circuit was not easy, Lincoln's long-time friend, Judge Davis Davis said "(he) went with the court to every county. Railroads were not then in use, and our mode of travel was either on horseback or in buggies."  With the need to accomodate travelers such as Lincoln, private residences then adhered to the social custom of frontier hospitality, were crucial.  At Lincoln Log Cabin visitors can experience on if these incidental taverns which provided vital services to Lincoln and other travelers on the road in a second historic home at the site. 

The Thomas Lincoln Cemetery, a mile to the west of Lincoln Log Cabin is the final resting place of manyy of Abraham Lincoln's extended family, including his father Thomas and his beloved stepmother Sarah Lincoln.  Interpretive markers provide information about the Lincoln grave as well as Thomas Lincoln's Milita service during the War of 1812.

  The Moore Home, one Mile north of Lincoln Log Cabin is the site of President-elect Abraham Lincoln’s last visit with his beloved stepmother Sarah and family before traveling to Washington, D.C. on January 31, 1861. The 1.5 story frame structure dating to the late 1850s, was reconstructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1936 and has been furnished with 1860s period pieces.

The visitor center contains museum exhibits, an auditorium with an orientation viedo, and a visitor information desk.  In the park are pavillions and day-use areas for picnicking and recreation.  A natural playscape features a stream for outdoor play with trails connecting the recreational and historic area of the site. 

Lincoln Log Cabin hosts several special events throughout the year,  many programs are supported by the not-for-profit Lincoln Log Cabin Foundation.