Off the Beaten Path / Lincoln, Illinois

After spending the weekend at an event in East Peoria, Illinois, I was back on the road this morning, traveling home along the backroads. Most of the backroads and smaller highways of Illinois wind around corn fields and farmland with the occasional small town scattered in between. 

Illinois, as noted on its state sign, is referred to as "The Land of Lincoln." That's because Illinois was the home of the country's 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, for 31 years. 

In fact, there's even a town called Lincoln, Illinois.

Driving along the backroads, I crossed over a section of historic Route 66 and stumbled upon a charming little town that was obviously many years past its prime. The name of that little town was Lincoln.

Founded in 1853, Lincoln, Illinois was named after Abraham Lincoln, who was merely a prominent attorney in Springfield at that time. Lincoln was present for the sale of the first lot in the new town, where he was asked to christen the town. What the town didn't realize yet was that Lincoln had paid a local farmer to bring a wagon full of watermelons to the ceremony.

Standing in front of the crowd, Lincoln presented one of the watermelons, pulled a pocket knife from his pocket and cut into the watermelon. He bumped the watermelon against the nearby wagon, then he proceeded to squeeze the watermelon's juice into a cup. “Gentlemen,” he began, “I am requested by the proprietors of the town site to christen it. I have selected the juice of a melon for that purpose." Lincoln then poured the cup of juice on the ground, leaving a lasting mark on the town and a silly story to be shared for years to follow. 

Following the christening of the town, Lincoln provided each person attending with their own watermelon. 

"Honest Abe" remains well-represented in the town to this day. A life-size statue of Lincoln stands at the corner of the town square that surrounds the Logan County Courthouse. Titled "Lincoln Rallies the People," the statue commemorates the speech Lincoln delivered outside the Logan County Courthouse on Oct. 16, 1858, the day after his final debate with Stephen Douglas in Alton during his campaign for the U.S Senate. The speech drew an estimated 5,000 people to the courthouse square and was covered extensively by the press. 

It was the day before, in Alton, when Lincoln delivered his famous words: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

Just around the corner from the courthouse stands the Lincoln Theater. Out of five theaters that once existed in the town, the Lincoln Theater was the only one that survived from the Route 66 era. Opened in 1923, the Lincoln Theater was the first theater in the nation for a city of Lincoln's size to feature movies with sound. 

I'm certainly glad I stumbled across this little hidden gem in "The Land of Lincoln."