Lincoln Land 80s is halfway done.

I have 44 of the 88 pictures so far. (Not including anything I got today or yesterday.) At least it rained last weekend, so now I can go take some of the residential shots without getting brown grass. This week’s weather so far has been cloudy, though, which has made it difficult for me to take the photos I want. I’ve also been working hard on my Etsy shop. I might not get this done until sometime in early October now. I thought I’d be finished by now. But of course, I’m still going to finish it, whatever it takes.

The 9 new pictures:

* Lincoln Home: This upper middle class house on the northeast corner of 8th and Jackson was the only home Lincoln ever owned. He lived here from 1844 to 1861 (when he left to be inaugurated as President). He probably spent the best years of his life here. The house was built in 1839 by the Rev. Charles Dresser, who also presided over the Lincolns’ wedding in 1842. When Lincoln bought the house, it was only 1 1/2 stories tall, and they added onto it over the years. The home was given to the state of Illinois in 1887 by Lincoln’s son Robert and then (along with the 4-block-square area surrounding it) to the National Park Service in 1972. One of the stipulations Robert made in the transfer of the home to the government is that it must always be free to tour, and that of course is still true today.

* Skyline from the 400 block of North 11th Street: If you recognize this photo, it’s because I used it (well, a version from a past year) to make my blog header image. I love the pretty lights and the urban feel. You can see the Hilton, the Convention Center, the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel, the Horace Mann Building, the State Capitol and the Myers Building from here.

* 600 block of East Capitol Avenue, Looking West from 7th Street: This is my favorite point along Capitol Avenue to take a streetscape shot looking directly towards the Capitol. To the right is the First Presbyterian Church, which the Lincolns attended (albeit not at this location), and visible down the street are restaurants and shops.

* 600 block of East Monroe Street, Looking West from 7th Street: This busy block has the Federal Building on the left, and a state office building on the right, and restaurants in the distance. For some reason, the traffic pattern at the 7th/Monroe intersection makes it tricky to take this streetscape shot.

* 600 block of East Adams Street, Looking West from 7th Street: Taken from the north sidewalk of the street instead of in the middle, because I like it that way. This vibrant block connects the hotels with the Adams Street Mall and the 5th and 6th Street corridors in the distance. It is lined with shops and restaurants and is one of the main corridors in downtown Springfield. The Illinois Building is visible on the right in the distance.

* West Side of the Square: Like the South Side of the Square shot, this one features the sun shining on the buildings. Which means that it was taken in the morning, and I’m not a morning person, so this one was little difficult to get. But I like the feel of this picture, somehow calming, yet urban, and vibrant. The tall building on the far right is the Myers Building, and Lincoln’s last law office was in the spot where this building now is. (The Myers Building was built in 1886.) The Chatterton Building, the 2nd building from the left, is a Lincoln-era building that housed a jewelry store where Lincoln bought Mary Todd’s wedding ring.

* Old State Capitol: This was the tallest building in Illinois when it was completed in 1839. Lincoln served his last two terms in the State Legislature here, and it was here that he gave his famous “House Divided” speech. This building remained the State Capitol until 1876 when state government outgrew the structure, thus necessitating the need for the New State Capitol.

* View from the 800 block of East Jefferson Street: While walking to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum one day, I noticed that there was a point on this block where you could see the domes of both the old and the new State Capitols, and where the domes of each of the State Capitols both have the same apparent size. This is a shot of this, viewed through the columns of the Horace Mann building on this block, and the trees on its grounds.

* State Capitol: This is the tallest building in the city, at 405 feet high. It is so large it is impossible to get the whole thing in, so I just got the dome. The building is often referred to as the “New State Capitol” to distinguish it from the old one, even though it was completed in 1876. This building is the State Capitol building today, and it is located where 1st Street and Capitol Avenue would intersect if they ran that far.

The 9 new pics:

Lincoln Home	Skyline from the 400 block of North 11th Street
600 block of East Capitol Avenue, Looking West from 7th Street	600 block of East Monroe Street, Looking West from 7th Street
600 block of East Adams Street, Looking West from 7th Street	West Side of the Square
Old State Capitol	View from the 800 block of East Jefferson Street
State Capitol