Thanks for the Declaration of Independence.
When I was a teenager, our family drove down to Springfield from our Chicago suburb to see the log cabin where he lived. My dad was a big fan of Lincoln and wanted us to see it. Probably a replica, but a powerful experience anyway.
“ Thanks for the Declaration of Independence.”
Gettysburg Address.
I’m from downstate Illinois... Lincoln. One glaring oddity about the town is that it was named for Abraham Lincoln, by- Abraham Lincoln, with a qualifier.
Local proprietors chose the name and sometime later, Lincoln performed the christening, using the juice of a watermelon.
THAT’S RACIST! lol
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EXCERPT:
History
The town’s standard history holds that it 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 Chicago & Mississippi Railroad which led to its founding, was asked to participate in a naming ceremony for the town. On this date, the first sale of lots took place in the new town. Ninety were sold at prices ranging from $40 to $150. According to tradition Lincoln was present. At noon he purchased two watermelons and carried one under each arm to the public square. There he invited Latham, Hickox, and Gillette, proprietors, to join him, saying, “Now we’ll christen the new town,” squeezing watermelon juice out on the ground.[4] Legend has it that when it had been proposed to him that the town be named for him, he had advised against it, saying that in his experience, “Nothing bearing the name of Lincoln ever amounted to much.” 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.[5][6]
Despite that story, newspaper reports make it clear that the city’s name of Lincoln had been chosen at least several weeks before the August 27 date.[7][8][9] The new site of Lincoln was about three-quarters of a mile from the small settlement of Postville.[10] “The position is fine and commanding, and if it does not make a big city, we have no doubt it will soon arrive at the dignity of a flourishing and respectable town,” the Illinois State Register wrote. “We will also add that the town was named by the proprietors, of whom our enterprising citizen, Virgil Hickox, is one, in honor of A. Lincoln, esq., the attorney of the Chicago and Mississippi Railroad Company.”[10]
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Lincoln, Illinois
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln,_Illinois
I believe that you are thinking of New Salem, which is to the north by northwest of Springfield, IL, in the countryside, near the Sangamon River.
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Lincoln’s New Salem 1830-1837
https://www.nps.gov/liho/learn/historyculture/newsalem.htm
Lincoln’s New Salem
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln%27s_New_Salem
Welcome to Lincoln’s New Salem
https://www.lincolnsnewsalem.com/