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Champaign Christian DeWitt Edgar Livingston Logan Macon Mason McLean Menard Moultrie Piatt Sangamon Shelby Tazewell Vermilion Woodford Christian County Originally called Dane County after Nathan Dane, one of the Congressmen responsible for the opening of the territory in 1787. After Illinois’ inclusion as a state, the county seat was named Taylorville, for Jon Taylor, a wealthy and influential businessman from Springfield. One of the few counties to change its name voluntarily after the inclusion of Illinois as a state, Dane County was soon renamed Christian County on February 1, 1840, after the county of the same name in Kentucky, from whence a number of its residents had emigrated. Taylorville is often referred to as “the last stop” because when Lincoln and his fellow lawyers, including Stephen A. Douglas, rode the 8th judicial circuit Taylorville was often the last place they stopped before going back to Springfield. The actual old courthouse that was the site of many Lincoln trials has been preserved at the Christian County Historical Museum complex. Taylorville and Christian County are surreal gems. A mainly rural county, the drive to the county seat in Taylorville is rife with impressively evolving landscape, from hill and vale with wooded glens, to open ranges of farmland, this IS Illinois! By looking at the pictures below, you can get an idea of Christian County in Lincoln’s time and as it stands today. Maybe you’ll find something unexpected when you go Looking for Lincoln in Taylorville and Christian County! Then
 Now 
Following the route of Lincoln on the Eighth Judicial Circuit is easy, to learn more about the history of the courthouse in this county, just click here! You may also want to consider a stop by the following sites of interest! Christian County Historical Soc. & Museum The Lincoln Prairie Trail For more information on Christian County or the city of Taylorville, please visit: http://www.taylorvillechamber.com/ |
