5/21/15 - Lincoln Home NHS

Another state, another President's house.  This time it's the Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield, Missouri. The house is one he bought and actually lived in as an adult with his family, and there's a lot of furniture that the Lincolns owned. It doesn't cost anything to tour the home, but you do have to pay $2 an hour for parking. (George was a bit miffed about that.)  I think it's a national park, but a city parking lot.

They give out free tickets in the Visitors Center but they're timed because they only take 15 people at a time. Fifteen might be pushing it a bit. We didn't have time before the tour to watch the movie, but we went back later.

Besides the Lincoln Home, the park consists of a neighborhood of four blocks with several of the houses restored to their 1860 appearance.

 This is a really famous angle for photos of the house.  There's one like it taken in the summer of 1860, with Abraham Lincoln and his son Willie standing behind the fence. Now it's just tourists.

We met the Ranger tour guide in front of the house where he ran through the rules. (Don't go beyond the barriers, don't touch anything, don't lag behind. Reminds me of things I used to tell my son when we took him places when he was little.) 

When we got inside, he did a good job of telling anecdotes about the Lincolns, a little history of the house, and keeping us moving.

The Sitting Room looks like a very busy room to me, with the patterns squabbling for dominance. The Ranger told us that the colors and patterns were typical 19th century--the theme is "Nature" and Nature isn't quiet. It's not quite so bad here, but wait till we get to the bedrooms!

This is the bedroom the Lincoln boys used. There's one of these little stoves at each end of the room.

This is Mr. Lincoln's bedroom. Doesn't look it, but the bed is longer than a California King. The desk he used looks more like it would fit his wife. And there's that pattern thing again.

Apparently it was common 150 years ago for husband and wife to have separate bedrooms. Mary Todd Lincoln's is just beyond. Same rug, same wallpaper, different bed. (And until the oldest boy went away to school, the two younger boys slept in her room. That must have been lovely.)

Here's the boys' room. Please note plain walls and a simple striped rug. Bedspread looks like wallpaper.

The hired girl slept in this little room off the kitchen. 

Mrs. Lincoln liked the stove in the kitchen so much she wanted to take it to the White House. Mr. Lincoln convinced her that they would have stoves in Washington, DC. 

After the tour, after the rest of the group drifted away, George and I hung around in the backyard talking to the Ranger. This seems to be becoming a habit. Pretty cool when you can find out a little more about the people at the parks, and learn a little more than is in the standard tour.

There are a few more pictures, but not many. It's difficult when you have to shoot around people and their children who keep moving into your picture. I'm used to George doing it, but this is trickier. Click here: Lincoln Home NHS