Heart of Lincoln Land

I have successfully taken 6 new Lincoln Land 80s pictures since last Wednesday (not including any that I may have successfully taken today since I haven’t really looked at them yet). Some of the cloudy, cool days late last week made it difficult to take anything interesting (I don’t like completely gray sky in my photos). I didn’t even bother to go out some days last week. But, the weather in the past few days has been much better, so I managed to take 6 new ones. Here they are:

*Springfield Marine Bank: This is located on the east side of the square. The “Springfield Marine Bank” facade and columns in this structure date to the Lincoln era. Lincoln held a bank account at the Springfield Marine Bank when he lived in Springfield. In fact, the ledger where his account records were kept is on public display inside the building (now Chase Bank). In Lincoln’s day, the county courthouse was just to the north of this building (at the southeast corner of 6th and Washington). Today, the Chase Bank building occupies this spot.

*Lincoln Depot: This small brick depot at 10th and Monroe is the place in Springfield where Lincoln left to assume the Presidency. Here, he gave a very emotional farewell address to a crowd of over 1,000 citizens as he was about to leave his hometown. It is one of the few impromptu speeches that Lincoln gave; in most cases Lincoln spent weeks preparing speeches. Its unusual impromptu nature suggests the emotions Lincoln felt about his hometown and its people as he was about to leave and see Springfield for the last time. We know what he said (pretty much anyway) because newspaper reporters on the train asked him to write it down after he left. The entire speech is engraved into a stone plaque visible to the right of the depot. It is also listed on a “Looking for Lincoln” storyboard visible in front of the depot, and on a marker just to the west on the 900 block of East Monroe (not visible in the picture). There is a small museum inside the depot today, and the depot has been restored (as much as possible) to look like it did on February 11, 1861, the day Lincoln left Springfield.

I’ve always thought it would be neat if this was still a functional depot (the tracks still run right by it, and the city wants to place the new high speed rail corridor on 10th Street, something I support) but that is a topic for another post.

*Skyline from the 14th Street Bridge over Clear Lake Avenue: This is probably one of the best unobstructed views of the Springfield skyline in the city. You can see many of the buildings that characterize modern Springfield from here. You can see the County Building, the Hilton and President Abraham Lincoln Hotels, the Illinois Building, the new and old State Capitol buildings, the Horace Mann building, the St. Nicholas Hotel, the Union Station clock tower, and even the top of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. I have a tradition of using this shot as an “introduction” to Springfield on the cover of the first Lincoln Land 80s CD, since many people enter Springfield via Clear Lake and see some of this skyline on their way into the city.

*Illinois Building: This 15-story Art Deco office building, located at the northeast corner of 6th and Adams, is the third tallest building in Springfield. On the first floor, it contains street-level retail and restaurants. I believe Barack Obama’s Springfield office is in this building. At night, the top of this building lights up. I took this picture from Adams Street at around sunset, just after the light at the top of the building turned on.

*Skyline from the 700 Block of East Madison Street: Taken at night, to capture the lights on in the Hilton and President Abraham Lincoln Hotels and in the Illinois Building. You can also see some of the historic buildings on the west side of 7th Street from here.

*Hilton Hotel: Look up, up, up… This towering 30-story hotel is the second tallest building in Springfield. Only the State Capitol (the new one) is taller. I took this at night (from near 7th and Adams, where the hotel is located) to capture the pretty lights on in the hotel. If you go to the 30th floor of this hotel, you can get some truly incredible views of the city and beyond.

Pictures from the last week:

Springfield Marine Bank	Lincoln Depot
Skyline from the 14th Street Bridge over Clear Lake Avenue	Illinois Building
Skyline from the 700 Block of East Madison Street	Hilton Hotel

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