We paid two dollars an hour to park in the lot. We went into the theater to meet our free half an…read morehour guided tour through Lincoln's house. Ranger Nate brought 12 of us through the 12 room house. We went into the parlor, family room, upstairs to the bedrooms, down the back staircase to the kitchen & outside. An entire 4 block neighborhood has been preserved here. At the national Park Service Visitor Center we picked up a ticket to enter his 12 room home. This is the only home Abe & Mary ever owned from 1844 until they moved to the White House in 1861. A remarkable 80% of the home is original. We were told that they moved into a one story home when their first son was born. They added this second floor when they were a family of five. The neighborhoods around Lincoln's home has been preserved . We were able to walk into other people's backyards and inside for more exhibits, just fascinating.

This is a wonderful place to visit especially if you are a Lincoln fan as we are. You can only get…read moretickets day of, but we walked up and got on the next tour (up to 15 per tour). The gift shop is very nice and has lots of goodies. The tour was led by a very knowledgeable guide with the national park service. The house is in immaculate condition and over 50% of the furniture etc is original, which I thought was amazing. So cool to see Lincoln's real chairs, bed, etc. The streets and houses around have been preserved and some are open to self tour. Street parking can be found for free or you can pay $2 and hour at the headquarters. House tours are free.

We had a great time here at the old Capitol. We enjoyed the self guided tour and listening to the…read moreLincoln Troubadours sing in the rotunda area and in the old house chamber. This statehouse was not used very long, but Lincoln was in here when he was alive. It was also the last place he lay in state before they closed the coffin and buried him and his son Willie in the Springfield cemetery. We enjoyed the Underground Railroad display and stories in the old Supreme Court Chambers. This place is kind of big and you can schedule at least an hour to see everything. As of June 2025 it's open Thursday through Saturday.

The Old State Capitol is a reconstruction of Illinois' statehouse from 1840 to 1876. During the…read more20th century's civil rights movement, its restorers faithfully recreated the building in which John Jones & Frances Gage worked to expand the meaning of freedom. Lincoln served his final term as a state lawmaker in 1840-41. As a lawyer, he pleaded cases before the state supreme court in this building (1841-1860). In the Illinois House chamber, Lincoln made his House Divided speech in June 1858, announcing his candidacy for the U.S. Senate. It was to the same chamber, in May 1865, that his body was returned to lie in state, arriving from Washington, D.C., prior to final burial in Springfield's Oak Ridge Cemetery.

We followed the signs getting off at the cemetery. We passed different war memorials before finding…read morea lot in front of Lincoln's grave. There were restrooms at the gravesite. Visiting Lincoln's Tomb was free. Pres Lincoln, Mary, & 3 of their sons' remains are here. The Lincoln Tomb was formally dedicated on October 15, 1874, 150-years ago. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources presents "Porch Talks" on the grounds of the Residence at the Lincoln Tomb providing :20 programs about lesser-known facts surrounding this monument. We drove into the cemetery, passing From 1865 to 1901, Lincoln's coffin was moved 17 times due to construction & fears for the safety of the president's remains. There was actually a plot in 1876 to steal his body and hold it for ransom. The coffin itself was opened on five separate occasions. Lincoln Cemetery is a 112 acre historically African American cemetery in Blue Island, with over 16,000 interments. Many famous black musicians, scientists, aviators, athletes ... are also here.

Abraham Lincoln's Tomb is in the Oakridge Cemetery just a short drive from downtown Springfield…read more He's buried there with his wife Mary and his 3 sons. This is his final resting place after his coffin was moved 17 times due to potential grave robbers and construction of this site. The obelisk outside the tomb is 117 ft tall there are several rooms and bronze statues of Lincoln duplicating him at different times of his life. The inside is solid marble! There's even a grave keepers home alongside the grave that appointed custodians lived and watched over his tomb from 1874-2014. Due to state budget issues, the last custodian retired and wasn't replaced.

It's located on Rt. 66, next to the capital & across from the library with fountains in front of…read morethe statue of Martin Luther King Jr. The current Supreme Court Building was built in 1908 for $450,500. It houses the Ceremonial Courtroom, Law Library & court staff.

One needn't know a thing about law or lawyering to appreciate the beauty and simple grandeur of the…read moreIllinois Supreme Court building in Springfield. My plans yesterday at the Capitol were attenuated because House Speaker Madigan's office had appropriated every single seat in the House Gallery for Governor Quinn's Budget Address. Translation: the public was essentially prevented from attending the Governor's speech. I solved that by walking across the street to the Illinois Supreme Court, which had ended its session yesterday, until May or so. I knew the building would be open but the entrance would be full of security - no doubt retired FBI and other law enforcement officials. I entered, and was correct. "Good morning, Sir. State your business please. Are you a lawyer?" "Recovering lawyer." All cops break up laughing. One asked: "How may we help you and exactly what is a recovering lawyer?" I said I had time to kill, no longer practice law, am a legal studies professor now, and simply wanted to spend time in the building, check out the library collection, view the artwork, etc. One of these fine gentleman said he had time and if I would like he would be happy to give me his personal tour. You bet. As I suspected, my tour guide-security officer was a former FBI agent or Illinois State Police; I'm not sure. He was a great guy, and what made his tour so interesting for me is that while he showed me the building and its treasures, he also weaved in a narration of his experience growing up in Springfield the son of a local trial lawyer who had argued a handful of cases in the Supreme Court; he told me how it felt for him to see his Dad argue - and win. Here are my pix of the Library, the main Court, the Ceremonial Court Room, and various other details: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/V-sjEb8q9g1EfNQ0VTaY3Q

We reserved a free tour at Eventbrite. Jennifer brought 15 of us through this massive, historic…read morehome. She pointed out specific pieces, told stories about the owners & was very knowledgeable about Frank Lloyd Wrights work. We started our tour with a brief video about the glass work. We went into several sitting areas, Dana's bedroom, nursery, dining room, pantry & kitchen.library, bowling alley & billiards room. The 3rd largest home Frank Lloyd Wright ever designed. this remarkably preserve Prairie School icon dates from 1902 until 1904. It's more interesting than his home in Oak Park. The 16 floor home was considered experimental with a duckpin bowling alley & 2 barrel vaulted ceiling's. There is exquisite color shifting art glass & 90% of the furniture is original. Susan Lawrence Dana (1862-1946) was an heiress to a silver mines fortune . She was widow in 1900 & had complete control over her household & fortune. She was a leading philanthropic figure in Springfield. Dana decided to completely remodeled her home commissioning Frank Lloyd Wright. Her new home reflected her flamboyant personality & was designed for display & entertainment. The concept of "expanding space" was evident throughout the house with windows placed to continually draw the attention to the outside. Wright designed approximately 450 art glass windows, skylights, door panels, sconces & light fixtures for the house. The interior Torii gates are magnificent.hallway into two of the largest rooms in the house. The musical gallery for entertaining and the library contains special easels. Wright designed white oak furniture for Dana to display Japanese prints. In1928, Dana had dementia & financial constraints. In1944, the home and its contents were sold to Charles C. Thomas, a medical publisher. Thomas lived here & used this home as his publishing company. He sold the house to the state for a million dollars. It became a historic site. Jennifer shared that the house is still being utilized for social community events.

This was so cool! What an amazing experience! This was my first Wright house, and I'm not sure it…read morecan be topped! I understand why photos aren't allowed inside, but I was expecting more postcards depicting the various rooms to be available in the gift shop. There was cool stuff, for sure, but more postcards of the interior would be great since photos aren't allowed. My tour guide was Allicent and she did a great job talking about all the artistic and architectural features of the home. There was also a video at the beginning about the manufacture of some of the glass. I was sorry that the intro video didn't tell us more about the historical and social context of Mrs Dana, but I imagine most visitors would be more interested in the architectural technique. My only complaint with my tour is that there were two little kids on it. They were like 3 and 5. They were totally distracting the whole time--talking, whining, trying to grab at things. I'm not sure why the museum has such strict rules about other things but also allows in kids under 12. There's nothing they could possibly glean from the tour. It's really not designed for kids. Nor should it be!

05/26/26 - Illinois State Capitol fitting review for a beautiful building (REVIEW 1,700). Today I…read morewent down to Springfield as part of a 10 bus 500 members group trying to start a union. By bringing these people just before the session convenes we're trying to get their attention & hopefully get something booked into legislation. As faith would have it we were in the William G Stratton building to talk to a few legislators prior to the meeting on 05/28/26 when they convene and vote. We were going to attempt to talk to a few when an alarm went off signifying a lockdown of the building. About 10 of us sheltered in place while security searched the building. Finally we were shuttled down the hall towards tunnel to the Capitol building. Unfortunately the alarm sounded around 11am and we had to shelter in place for about 1 hr while they searched the building. After the clearance was given we moved through an underground tunnel connecting the William G Stratton building to the Illinois State Capitol. By doing this we didn't need to leave the building & go through security again. When we came up out of the tunnel we were in the Illinois State Capitol Building. I've lived in Illinois almost my entire life. This was the first time I was ever in the Capitol Building. This is an impressive beautiful building w/a very ornate 3 story dome. When we came up to the third floor many of the 500 people that came up w/us from Chicago were milling around along w/other special interest groups trying to get the attention of the legislators before they entered the chambers. From what I understand they were voting on 05/28/2026 on a number of issues and these groups came hoping to win support for their groups The Capitol building is a very impressive structure w/a 3 story central dome that rises to 360 feet. Designed in the French Renaissance and Italianate styles, it was constructed between 1868 and 1888. I was very impressed by the attention to detail that was put into this magnificent structure. The attention to every detail in this central dome is amazing.

The Illinois State Capitol, in Springfield, houses the legislative & executive branches of…read moregovernment. Becoming the seat of the legislature in 1876, this building is the 6th to serve as the capitol since Illinois was admitted to the U.S. in 1818. Built in the architectural styles of the French Renaissance & Italianate, it was designed by Cochrane and Garnsey, a Chicago architectural firm. Ground was broken for the new capitol structure in 1868, the building was completed 20 yrs later costing $4.5 million. It's 361 feet, the tallest non-skyscraper capitol structure in the US, even exceeding the height of the United States Capitol with its dome in Washington, D.C. The dome itself of the State Capitol in Springfield is 92.5 ft wide, & is supported by underground solid bedrock, 25.5 ft below the surface. The silver dome is majestic, Lincoln stands at the entrance & inside. We went through metal detectors & explored the capital. Inside all of the shades of marble are magnificent. The archways are finished with gold leaf. There were a lot of workmen cleaning and polishing but we didn't see any government workers

A Greater Task "Why…read moreshould there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate justice of the people? Is there any better or equal hope in the world?" Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address Located in a small park across the street from the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, this statue highlights the burden and complexities that Lincoln faced as he began his journey to Washington and became a wartime president. Visit this and the nearby Acts of Intolerance Sculpture to reflect on the past, the present and the future.

Do the tour! The tour of the Carillon's is about 30 minutes and you learn about how they're played…read moreand how they came to be and how they're made. Then if you can stay or come back for the concert when they play, it's worth it. The concert is about another 30 minutes and sounds just wonderful. There are places to sit and relax and geese to feed too. The tour costs a nominal amount but listening to the Carillons is free.

Have you seen it? have you heard it? It's pretty amazing…read more... super tall, 32+? bells that one person plays! Hello? Awesome! Wednesdays in the summer take wander around the area and take a listen! I think it's pretty awesome. Now, if we could get rid of the bugs... Anyway - it's great! Go, enjoy!

Hard to notice unless looking for it and even then it's also hard. It's a great piece of public art…read moreof an important figure in civil rights. Martin Luther King, Jr. has a statue in Springfield. For sure it's not that impressive looking, but simple can be good. There's also a plaque with some historic information. A kind of hard to find statue at first. It's at the intersection of Capitol Avenue and Second Street. This is a pretty humble statue of him with his suit jacket slung over his shoulder, looking like he's in thought. Just many of the statues around here. Look on the other side of the street and there's a statue of Lincoln, and others. Good important site only takes a few minutes to look at. It's only one of many statues, so spend more time looking around at others. The area around here is better to walk around than drive because of traffic.

Local flavor and public art - i love it!…read more Wonderful statue of MLK, nice to see him less stoic! The status is opposite corner from the "young" lincoln in from of the "new" state capital. Fun to see the 2 looking at each other!

Book your free tour at Eventbrite…read more We enjoyed walking through the governors mansion on a Sunday afternoon. Our docent was amazing. She grew up here in Springfield and played in the house as a child and the young person. The mansion itself is very impressive. It is the largest governors mansion of the United States and the third oldest. There is a lot of history in here and some beautiful artwork and furnishings. I'm sure someone will sell you a book so you can see all that. There are no photographs or videos allowed by visitors. Your tour will be escorted by Capitol Police to make sure you follow the rules and don't touch anything. The home is gorgeous and the first lady has done an excellent job decorating. We really enjoyed this wonderful tour.

Beautifully landscaped mansion in the center of Springfield. This is the largest governor's…read moremansion in America is Illinois' 45,000-square-foot palace, stands tall since 1855. Currently, Governor Greg Abbott & First Lady Cecilia Phalen Abbott are occupants. This is as close as we could get.