Lincoln's New Salem preserves the site of New Salem village, where young Abraham Lincoln lived for six formative years, from 1831 to 1837. Platted in 1829, the town existed for about twelve years before being abandoned and left to pasture. The centerpiece of Lincoln's New Salem is the imaginative recreation of the log village. Built in the 1930s and 1940s as a Civilian Conservation Corps program, the village features twenty-three historically furnished buildings, including several homes, stores, and tradesmen's shops, as well as a tavern, school, wool carding mill, and a saw- and gristmill. Scattered throughout the village are log barns and other outbuildings.

The historical village is open during site operating hours, and visitors are free to walk through at their own pace. Signs on the log buildings explain various aspects of the village's history, and on most days, especially during tourist season, interpreters dressed in period clothing may be encountered throughout the village. A museum displays artifacts that once belonged to New Salem residents. A video, Turning Point, telling the story of Lincoln's New Salem years, is screened in the auditorium every half hour. The visitor center and concession areas, as well as many of the log houses, are accessible to persons with disabilities.

New Salem Part 2

The site hosts a number of special events. Many programs are supported by the New Salem Lincoln League, which raises funds through the operation of its Museum Store and gift shop.

www.lincolnsnewsalem.com

Address: 15588 History Lane, Petersburg, IL	Contact: (217) 632-4000
Hours: March - April 16, Wed - Sun : 9:00 am - 5:00 pm April 16 - September 15, Sun - Sat : 9:00 am - 5:00 pm September 16 - October, Wed - Sun : 9:00 am - 5:00 pm November - February, Wed - Sun : 8:00 am - 4:00 pm

New Salem Part 1

The Menard County Historical Society maintains a museum and archives in the former Frackelton Bank. Built in 1889 on the corner of Seventh & Jackson in Petersburg, Illinois, this lovely Victorian-styled building is on the west side of the Menard County Courthouse Square across the street from the Menard County Courthouse. If you would like to learn more about Lincoln and Menard County, then this is the place to visit.

The Historical Society’s Museum is home to valuable books, pictures, genealogy materials, historic displays, circus memorabilia, and other artifacts pertaining to Menard County. The building also houses the Illinois Professional Land Surveyors Association’s Museum of Land Surveying. The land surveying displays include instruments that tell the early history of land surveying, including instruments similar to those used by Deputy County Surveyor Abraham Lincoln in 1836 when he surveyed the town of Petersburg.

Address: 125 S 7th St., Petersburg, IL	Contact: (217) 632-7363
Hours: September - April, Tues - Fri : 9:00 am - 1:00 pm Memorial Day - Labor Day, Tues - Fri : 9:00 am - 4:00 pm Admission: Free!

Edgar Lee Masters was born on August 23, 1868, in Garnett Kansas. . Masters lived in the home that is now a Museum as a child from 1876 to 1881 in Petersburg, Illinois. He wrote brilliantly about the local life and about his hero Lincoln. His home explores the life and legacy of this man, as well as preserves information and exhibit items from this era.

Born on August 23, 1868 to Emma J. Dexter and Hardin Wallace Masters in Garnett, Kansas, his father had briefly moved to set up a law practice. The family soon moved back to his paternal grandparents' farm near Petersburg in Menard County, Illinois. In 1880 they moved to Lewistown, Illinois, where he attended high school and had his first publication in the Chicago Daily News. The culture around Lewistown, in addition to the town's cemetery at Oak Hill, and the nearby Spoon River were the inspirations for many of his works, most notably Spoon River Anthology, his most famous and acclaimed work.

He is also the author of The New Star Chamber and Other Essays, Songs and Satires, The Great Valley, The Serpent in the Wilderness An Obscure Tale, The Spleen, Mark Twain: A Portrait, Lincoln: The Man, and Illinois Poems. In all, Masters published twelve plays, twenty-one books of poetry, six novels and six biographies, including those of Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, Vachel Lindsay, and Walt Whitman.

Address: Eighth & Jackson , Petersburg, IL	Contact: (217) 632-7363
Hours: Memorial Day through Labor Day Tues, Thurs - Sat : 10:00 am - 12:00 pm & 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm.

The cemetery is located in a field about 1/4 mile off the roadThere are no signs just a lone flag on a flagpole waving in the wind. You have to drive on a grassy road that runs in between two plowed fields. There are approximately 200 graves there. This place was made popular by local Lincoln legend and further developed by Carl Sandburg. This area was purported to be the first resting place of one Anne Rutledge, Lincoln’s first sweetheart. Following her passing and the heartache that ensued, it is believed to have been one of his motivations in moving, which led to his becoming a lawyer.

From an old Newspaper:

Ann Rutledge, sweetheart of Abraham Lincoln, died Aug. 25, 1835, and was buried in the Goodpasture grave yard (sometimes called Old Concord cemetery)… near Petersburg. Her brother, David, and other relatives were buried beside her. Here she lay until 1890 when an undertaker, ambitious to sell lots in his new cemetary, disinterred the dust that remained of her, and moved it to Oakland cemetery, near Petersburg. Later a granite stone was erected over this second grave, and now people make pilgrimages there, to what purports to be her grave. Abraham Lincoln often visited the original grave.

Directions: Follow Rte. 97 North through Petersburg to the Lincoln Trail Road, which is the third road past R&H Home Supply outside of Petersburg. Turn right (east) on the Lincoln Trail Road and go about a half a mile to a grassy lane between two fields. Follow the grassy lane back to the cemetery - about a quarter of a mile. The cemetery has a flag pole and is fenced and maintained very well.

Ann Mayes Rutledge, purported by Herndon, Sandburg and others to be the first love of Abraham Lincoln, was laid to rest in the Old Concord Burial Ground. However, the body was exhumed and then buried in the Oakland Cemetery in Petersburg, Illinois when an undertaker became financially interested in the cemetery in 1890. At this time the cheap stone marker was replaced with a granite monument that included the lyrics of Edgar Lee Masters, who is also buried here, and reads:

But of me unworthy and unknown The vibrations of deathless music! With malice toward none. With clarity for all. But of me forgiveness of millions toward millions. And the beneficent face of a nation Shining with justice and truth I am Ann Rutledge who sleep beneath these weeds. Beloved of Abraham Lincoln. Wedded to him, not through union, But through separation. Bloom forever, O Republic, From the dust of my bosom! January 7th, 1813 - August 25th, 1835

Address: This cemetery is located in Petersburg, Illinois, on Oakland Street, on the southwest side of town. Hours: Sunrise to Sunset

Located on 48 acres in southern Menard County, IL, Starhill Forest is a private arboretum owned and operated by the Sternberg family since 1976. The land has been farmed and grazed since the mid-19th century, when Abraham Lincoln traveled on the same road during his New Salem days.

Old trees in the forested areas date to about 1850, and the oldest planted trees were started from seed in 1964 and transplanted from another location. Permanent records kept by Starhill Forest include provenance information, propagation method and year, mapped location within the arboretum via a surveyed grid system, and other data. In addition, permanent records of other taxa that have been tested and have not survived include cause of death, when known.

The primary scientific collection is a quercetum (oak) comprising the living reference collection recognized by the North American Plant Preservation Council. Additionally, approximately 150 other genera of woody plants are available for study, as well as herb and perennial landscapes, a native prairie garden, several provenance tests, and a conifer plantation.

www.starhillforest.com

Address: 12000 Boy Scout Trail, Petersburg, IL	Contact: Guy (at) StarhillForest .com
Hours: Guided tours are offered by appointment, but the forest is always open.

The Col. Matthew Rogers Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is the home of the Long Nine Museum. In 1837 the citizens held a banquet for Lincoln and the eight other legislators who were responsible for moving the state Capitol from Vandalia to Springfield. A visit to this site reveals the details of that celebration and many other Lincoln ties in Athens. This small community is easily accessible to visitors going to or from New Salem.

Lincoln's ties to Athens, forged in the early 1830s from his time as a legilator, continued into the next decade. In 1841, Colonel Matthew Rogers engaged the law firm of Logan and Lincoln to sue for collection when Francis failed to pay on time. Lincoln personally handled the case in Judge Samuel H. Treat's Sangamon County Circuit Court and filed the brief in his own hand on January 29, 1841. Lincoln won suite by default December 3, 1841. Original brief is in the Library of Congress. However, a copy of the brief is currently on display in the Lincoln history room of the museum.

Colonel Rogers hired Lincoln, then a lawyer, to repossess his building from its recent purchaser. A copy machine reproduction of Lincoln's handwritten brief is displayed in the Long Nine Museum's history room.

http://www.abrahamlincolnlongninemuseum.com

Address: 200 South Main St., Athens, IL 62613	Contact: (217) 636-8755
Hours: June 1 – September 1, Tues - Sat : 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm With a confirmed appointment, other hours are available.

Between 1843 and 1844, the Menard County Commissioners were delighted to have their new two-story Greek Revival courthouse built for a total sum of $6,640. Featuring a n additional one-story white cupola on the front supported by an all-brick face on the structure, this new courthouse would last until 1896; when it would be demolished to make room for a new courthouse.

For nearly four years since the county seat was named, all court activities had been handled at the Grinsley and Levering store. About the time the court house was built, a jail was erected, at a cost of $300. In1870, less than thirty years later, a new jail was put up which cost about $22,000.

This particular structure bore a very common appearance with several of the other structures of the Eighth Judicial Circuit and is a noticeable style that was described by locals as of an old Kentucky tobacco-barn style.

In 1896/1897 the old courthouse was torn away and the new building, which stands today, was erected.