Everything You Need to Know for an Amazing Visit to Abraham Lincoln’s Home in Springfield
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Our family recently returned from a short trip to Springfield, Illinois. Our sole purpose was to experience as much of Abraham Lincoln as we could pack into two days. We succeeded, and I was thrilled that the boys loved the trip as much as I did. Read on for all the tips to plan your own visit to Abraham Lincoln’s home. (And if you’re worried about traveling with kids, check out my safety tips here.)
What You Must Do First
Once you’ve decided that you want to visit Abraham Lincoln’s home, then you MUST get tickets. Tickets are free, and you get them from the Visitor’s Center. Just go to the front desk and tell them how many tickets you need, and they’ll print them for you. Super easy!
Tickets go quickly, so if you can get there as soon as they’re open, you’re guaranteed a tour for the day. The Visitor’s Center opens at 8:30 a.m. We arrived at 8:45, and the first tour of the day was already full! They give tours every half hour from 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., so we got the 9:30 a.m tour.
When we came back through the Visitor’s Center at 10:15 a.m., they were already out of free tickets for the day! So that’s why it’s important to get there early.
The Visitor’s Center
The Visitor’s Center is a nice place to explore if you don’t have time to go anywhere else before your tour. It’s air conditioned, which makes it nice on those hot Illinois summer days. It has a small gift shop that sells all things Lincoln related-from books, jewelry, mugs, recipes, and even stuffed animals-you’re sure to find something you can’t live without. (The recipe card for Mary Lincoln’s almond cake was only 95 cents!)
Information is hanging on the walls about Lincoln, and there’s even a clock on display that Lincoln gave to Mary’s sister when he left for Washington.
There is a movie about Lincoln’s life in Theater 1. No one told us about this, so sadly, we missed it. But be aware that it’s there and free. There are nice clean restrooms to use before and after your tour if needed, hand sanitizing stations, benches to sit and wait on, and a pop machine if you need a drink after your tour.
Touring Lincoln’s Home
About 5-10 minutes before your tour, the park ranger leading your tour will ask you to meet with them in Theater 2. They’ll quickly go over the rules of visiting Abraham Lincoln’s home. Our park ranger was great! He had a fun sense of humor and lots of interesting stories to tell about Lincoln’s family. Once the ranger is done talking, he or she will lead you over to the Lincoln home.
The First Stop
You’ll begin your tour outside of Lincoln’s home. Lincoln’s Springfield home is the only home he ever owned. His family lived there for 17 years. I was amazed to learn that Lincoln’s home started out very small, like the gray home in the picture below. It wasn’t until Lincoln became a successful lawyer that he had enough money to add on to the home we see today.
Inside the Home
Once you’ve learned a little bit about Lincoln’s neighborhood, the park ranger will unlock the front door and lead you into the front parlor of President Lincoln’s home. It is the coolest feeling to know that you’re walking up the same steps and through the same front door that he came through every day for 17 years!
The Front Parlor
This is the one room house that the Lincoln’s lived in when they first bought the property. Our park ranger said there would have been a little loft up above where the Lincoln’s slept. Some of the items in the room belonged to the Lincolns, while several of them came from drawings of what the Lincoln’s used to have. They gave most of their things away to neighbors or friends in Chicago before they moved to the White House. Sadly, the items in Chicago burnt in the Chicago fires.
As the Lincoln’s home got bigger, the Lincoln boys were NOT allowed to play in this room because it had the nicest items in it and was used for entertaining.
The Lincolns added on to the front parlor after living in the house for a few years. This room was the bedroom. They could easily open and close the door. The children would have been born in this room. Later this room was also used for entertaining. It is said the children were not allowed in here either. Mr. Lincoln also liked to lie on the couch and read.
The Dining Room
Mrs. Lincoln thought it was important for her children to learn table manners. So she turned part of the kitchen into the dining room.
The Hallway
You’re probably wondering what’s so great about a hallway? Let me tell you. THIS hall tree is the one that the Lincoln family owned. It was where Abraham Lincoln would hang up his hat and coat after a long day at work. The chair is where he would sit to take off his shoes so as not to drag dirt throughout the house.
The Back Parlor
Here is where the Lincoln family spent most of their time together. Mrs. Lincoln would host lavish birthday parties for the children in this room. Since Abraham Lincoln was quite the distinguished wrestler (this was new to me…I must’ve missed that part in history class), he may have even wrestled with is own boys on the floor of this room.
In the corner of this parlor are the toys that the children played with. The stereoscope (wooden box on the table that kids could slide picture cards into to view them in 3D) is the real one that Abraham Lincoln bought for his children. It cost him $15 at the time, which is the equivalent of $900 today!
The Upstairs
After you’ve toured the downstairs, your guide will lead you up the stairs to the bedrooms. The stairway is steep, so be sure to use the handrail to go up. This is probably as close as you’ll ever get to shaking Lincoln’s hand because this is the actual handrail he used!
Abraham Lincoln’s Bedroom
Upon going up the stairs, Abraham Lincoln’s bedroom is to your left. The wallpaper is original to this room. So imagine waking up to that every morning! The desk is also original to the room. Imagine Abe sitting there working by candle light late into the night on his speeches!
Mrs. Lincoln’s Bedroom
It was customary at the time for husbands and wives to have separate bedrooms if they could afford it. Mrs. Lincoln’s bedroom was right next to Abe’s. The children slept in a trundle bed in her room when they were young so she could easily attend to them. The chair and dresser are original to this room.
The Hired Help’s Bedroom
The Lincoln’s hired a girl who was usually between the ages of 14-15 to help with household chores like cooking, emptying chamber pots, caring for the children. The Lincolns lived in this home for 17 years. They also went through about 17 different girls in that time frame. Our park ranger told us that the children were a bit of a handful, so that might explain the high turnover. Haha!
The Children’s Bedroom
Our ranger had us line up in the hallway to talk about the bedrooms located here. Due to the long line of people, it didn’t dawn on me to snap a quick picture of the boys’ bedroom as we went by. I was disappointed that we didn’t get to go back by it so I could look closer at it and snap a picture. So note to self…stop and get a picture of things as you walk by because you won’t get to go back by them again.
Other Rooms Upstairs
An online map of the Lincoln home shows that there are two more rooms upstairs. One is called a trunk room, and the other is a guest bedroom. We didn’t get to see either on our tour, so maybe the park rangers use them for something else. I’m not sure.
I did notice a chair in front of the guest bedroom on our tour, which made me wonder what room it was blocking. So I looked it up. From what I read online, the guest bedroom is where Robert Todd Lincoln stayed as an adult when he came home to visit. Maybe if we ever go back and tour again, I can get a picture of this room and the boys’ bedroom! Hey! There’s another reason to return.
The Kitchen
I’ll be honest, I really expected the kitchen to be much bigger than it was. After learning that Mrs. Lincoln turned part of it into a dining room, the small size made sense to me. Her kitchen was small, but functional. The black stove in it is original to the home. Mrs. Lincoln bought it new, but only got to use it for 7 months before moving to the White House. After Abe’s assassination, she never returned to this home.
Tour Conclusion
The kitchen is the last stop inside Abraham Lincoln’s home. The park ranger will open the back door, and send you out into his backyard. His backyard is plain. Reports say that Mrs. Lincoln wasn’t into planting flowers. Here is the first known picture of his yard from 1865.
And here is a picture of his backyard today. Not much has changed!
Lincoln’s Neighborhood
After we exited Lincoln’s backyard, we were free to stroll through his neighborhood and imagine what it was like when he lived there. Many of the houses have been restored to the time period, and I read online after our visit that some of them are even open to tour. At the time of our visit, I had no idea which ones were open, so we didn’t enter any of them. And our park ranger didn’t tell us about it. But hey, it’s yet another reason to go back.
All Done
We ended our visit by walking back through the Visitor’s Center. The church that Mary Lincoln attended is about a block north of the Visitor’s Center. The pew that the Lincoln family sat on is also in this church. We walked by it, but they weren’t doing tours until a little later in the day. The boys weren’t as amused as I was, so we skipped it. But I do vow to go back another time and take the tour.
So now that you know all about the Lincoln’s home in Springfield, Illinois, what are you waiting for? What are you most looking forward to seeing? Take the trip and make history come alive!
