Completed in 2002, this reproduction of an early Danville court house tells of Danville’s rich Lincoln history. He tried over 200 cases in the courts here and had many friends in this community. As visitors enter the museum, the first thing they see is an imposing statue that represents the Lincoln that his friends from Danville would have recognized. The museum also houses a recreation of the law office that Danville attorney Ward Hill Lamon shared with Lincoln, and includes a desk that Lincoln actually used. There are many other fine exhibits in this museum that reflect the history of Vermilion County.

The main building is located directly behind the Fithian Home, which is a Lincoln Site on the National Register of Historic Places.

http://www.vermilioncountymuseum.org/

Address: 116 N. Gilbert St., Danville, IL	Contact: (217) 442-2922
Hours: January - December, Tues - Sat : 10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Dr. William Fithian was Danville’s most prominent physician during most of the 19th Century. The house that he built is still standing and is part of the Vermillion County Museum Complex. Lincoln was known to have spent time in this home as Dr. Fithian was not only a doctor, but was also very active in Vermilion County politics. In 1858, during the senate campaign, Lincoln made an impromptu speech from the second floor balcony outside the bedroom that he frequently occupied. The house contains a bed that Lincoln slept in that night. The home is located next to the newly completed Vermilion County Museum.

The home was built by pioneer physician William Fithian, who in his time, served as prairie legislator, horseback doctor, Civil War surgeon and personal friend of Abraham Lincoln. Dr. Fithian and Lincoln became friends when they both served in the Illinois legislature in 1834 and the association continued until Lincoln's death. Lincoln first came to Danville to represent Fithian in a court case.

Fithian House Part 2

Fithian hosted Lincoln many times when he visited Danville and supported him both financially and with speeches when Lincoln ran for office. In September of 1858, Lincoln gave a speech from the south balcony of the Museum when he was campaigning for the U. S. Senate. The balcony, the window Lincoln stepped out and the bedroom Lincoln used on his visits remain as they were that autumn day in 1858. The bed in the Lincoln room is the bed the tall statesman slept in when he visited Fithian. There is also an original newspaper announcing Lincoln's candidacy, a photograph of him taken in Danville and a hand-written note from Lincoln to Secretary Risley written just a few months before his assassination.

Address: 116 N. Gilbert St., Danville, IL	Contact: (217) 442-2922
Hours: Jan - Dec, Tues - Sat : 10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Fithian House Part 1

Located in the heart of the Renaissance District of Danville, Illinois, they have all probate records from the Vermilion County, IL courthouse either on microfilm or hard copy, hundreds to thousands of family histories and files, copies of the naturalizations from the Vermilion County, IL, courthouse, and all cemetery readings for Vermilion County.

If you are a serious researcher, or even a casual one, stop on in and find out what Vermilion County has to offer.

http://illianaghs.org/

Address: 215 W. North St., Danville, IL	Contact: (217) 431-8733
Hours: Mon - Fri : 10:00 am - 4:00 pm Sat : 10:00 am - 2:00 pm Open until 8pm on Tuesday. Closed on holidays.

Probably the oldest frame residence in Danville, this house has connections with several important persons of Danville History. It was built in 1850 by Joseph and Melissa Beckwith Lamon. Melissa was the daughter of the man after whom Danville was named -- Dan Beckwith. Her husband, Joseph Lamon, was the cousin of Ward Hill Lamon, a Danville attorney who was for four years the law partner of Abraham Lincoln, and who later went to Washington, D.C. with Lincoln to act as the friend and bodyguard during the Civil War (1861-1865).

This home remained in the Lamon family for about 90 years. During that time, rooms were added to the house and improvements were made. Originally, the house is believed to have had only four rooms with the kitchen standing as a separate structure. Later that was added to the house. Notice how the rooms are so much larger than they appear from the outside of the house. You will also notice that the woodwork is different in each room.

Lamon House Part 2

The Lamon House is furnished with pieces primarily of the 1850 - 1875 era. The fireplace grate is original to the house and wicker chair next to the fireplace belonged to the family. None of the other furnishings are original to the house. The DAR furnished the north side of the house -- that is, the living room, dining room and kitchen. The bedroom was furnished by the Newell Township Historical Society, and the library was taken care of with donations from some of the Danville High School faculty.

Many older Danville residents remember the 1930's when this home stood on North Street. It was known as "The Bird House" because of its Victorian charm and the fact that its owner was Laura Bird, the surviving daughter of Joseph and Melissa Lamon who had built the house in another era, nearly a century earlier. The Lamon House later served as a gift shop and then as two attorney's offices. It was donated to the Vermilion County Museum Society by those attorneys and in 1982 was moved to its present site.

http://www.lamonhouse.org/

Address: In the middle of the Lincoln Park Historic District	Contact: (217) 442-2922 or contact the Vermilion County Museum
Hours: May - October, Sundays from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm Or by appointment.

Lamon House Part 1

A catch-all name that incorporates camping, fishing, hiking, and a host of other activities the entire family can enjoy, this area covers more than 15,000 acres of park land. Among the areas of interest are: Kennekuk County Park, Kickapoo State Park, and others.

Few areas in Illinois are as blessed as this when it comes to clean and beautiful rivers all running swiftly toward the Wabash River, which lies just across our eastern border. Not only do they have these wonderful rivers, but also host the only designated National Scenic River in Illinois, the Middle Fork. If you are looking to capture some of Lincoln’s Illinois landscape, then this is the place to be.

http://ryanbeitz.com/portfolio/webtours/vrc/site/parks.htm

The first permanent courthouse in Danville, the county seat of Vermilion County, was built by Thomas Durham in 1832. Another of the coffee-mill federal style, this fifty-foot square building had its courtroom on the first floor and the jury rooms divided on the second floor. The judge sat on his bench along the eastern wall and the entrances to the building were on the southern and western sides of the courthouse. At the time, the other county offices were elsewhere throughout the town, which was more than slightly inconvenient, but there was just no room at the courthouse. The offices for the clerks were added later in another wing that was added to the building. A familiar figure in Danville between 1841 and 1859 was a gangling young country lawyer named Abraham Lincoln.

After the building burned down in 1872, a new Vermilion County Courthouse was erected at the same site. The cornerstone was laid in 1876, and the building was completed in 1877 at a cost of $104,550. The building was three stories high, and made of brick, stone and iron. The shape of the courthouse was unique, the reason being that the county officials wanted to make use of every available amount of space for county government.

In 1911, the County Board passed a resolution to "repair and remodel" the existing courthouse. First, the cornerstone was moved to the northeast corner. Next, the entire courthouse was demolished and rebuilt from the ground up. Official state records still show that only two courthouses have ever stood on the Northeast Corner of the Public Square. Our current building, which is our third courthouse, is officially described as a remodeled version of the 1876 courthouse. The construction cost was slightly in excess of $250,000. The "remodeled" courthouse was accepted as completed on December 11, 1913.