Interactive Map

Set out on an adventure through Macomb on the Looking For Lincoln Self-Guided Tour. This unique attraction allows users to experience 11 significant sites throughout Macomb and McDonough County directly related and pertaining to Abraham Lincoln and his remarkable connection to the community.

Individual markers designate every one of the 11 Macomb Looking For Lincoln sites, which include specific QR codes that direct history seekers to detailed, online information on the particulars of each notable location, featuring in depth history, photos, maps and video of “Abe Lincoln” himself giving “first hand” descriptions of the sites.

The LFL marker tour includes the McDonough County Courthouse, The Randolph House, The Living Lincoln Topiary Monument, Oakwood Cemetery, The Blandin House Museum, The Wm. Painter Pearson Photography Studio site, among others.

Pittsfield is a unique community when it comes to Abraham Lincoln. Between 1838 and 1858 Abraham Lincoln visited Pike County and the Pittsfield community several times. During his visits he became friends with many local men and their families through politics and legal business.

In 2007 an effort was made by the Abe Lincoln Project/Looking for Lincoln in Pike County to mark several of these homes with waysides telling the story of the families that lived in the home and their relationship to Lincoln.

On behalf of the Abe Lincoln Project we invite you to take our Talking House Tour and learn the history of the families that knew Abraham Lincoln personally.

The final senatorial debate between Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln took place in front of Alton's city hall at the corner of Broadway and Market Streets in 1858.

The debate itself drew national attention and more than 6,000 people gathered in downtown Alton for the event.

That moment in time is forever frozen in time at the Lincoln-Douglas Square. Lifesize bronze statues depict the two men intensely debating the issues of the time. 

Tour the only museum in Illinois retracing the senatorial debates of 1858 between Abraham Lincoln and Stephan Douglas. The museum offers exhibits and interactive displays that tell the debates’ story through film, audio selections, artifacts and photos.

The first Lincoln-Douglas senatorial debate was held in Ottawa’s historic Washington Square on August 21, 1858. Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas stood in this beautiful park to deliver the first of seven senatorial debates. It was estimated that 20,000 spectators gathered to witness this famous debate. The site of the debate is marked by a boulder and plaque, and a fountain topped by bronze statues of the “Railsplitter” and “The Little Giant” forms the centerpiece of the beautifully landscaped square.

On August 27, 1858, the most significant of the historic Lincoln-Douglas debates took place in Freeport, IL and gave the nation direction in succeeding years due to the famous Freeport Doctrine. While Stephen Douglas kept his seat in the Senate after the debates, his reply that each state should be perfectly free to do as it pleased in regards to slavery, no matter the ruling of the Supreme Court, stirred a sentiment of betrayal among constituents that would come back to haunt him in his bid for President in the election of 1860. Abraham Lincoln’s point that “a house divided could not stand,” his belief that Americans of every race were entitled to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” and his stance against Douglas’ advocacy for popular sovereignty were what ultimately led to his election later on.

Visit the Lincoln-Douglas Debate Square in historic downtown Freeport, next to the Union Dairy, to see the first statue ever erected to include both Lincoln and Douglas in commemoration of the debates that influenced US history. This landmark is one of two points of interest for Lincoln history in Stephenson County.

In the U.S. Forst Service Mississippi Bluffs area, the picnic area offers three walking loops ranging from .24 - .41 miles.  Walking paths are on paved surface and surrounded with various plant and tree species.  The Lincoln Memorial pond provides great scenery for walkers and a great habitat for turtles. 

Image courtesy of the Gazette-Democrat.

Local muralist Kris Killman from nearby Marion painted a mural depiciting the Lincoln-Douglas debate from 1858.  The mural is a recreation of the center section of an orginal painting done by Maurice Metzger of Anna, Illinois.  Metzger was well-known for painting wildlife and southern Illinois landmarks.  The mural is outdoors and is available for viewing year-round.

The museum reopened with updated exhibits in 2023 on the 165th anniversary of the debate after an 18-month renovation. Located across the street from the debate site in Washington Park, the museum includes five state-of-the-art videos and four new exhibits. The Turning Point video and exhibit panels explain why the debate was so important, how it affected United States history, and its importance in defining the morality of slavery and catapulting Abraham Lincoln to national attention.

The Museum was an undertaking of the Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition and Quincy's Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. It is located across the street from the debate site in Washington Park and was dedicated in October 2009 as a lasting legacy to the sixth debate and to commemorate Abraham Lincoln’s place in Quincy’s history.

Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas campaigned in 1858 to become a United States Senator from Illinois. They agreed upon a series of seven debates in different parts of the state, the sixth of which was held in Quincy. The Sesquicentennial Plaza commemorates the Lincoln-Douglas Debate in Washington Park and was rededicated by the community and Quincy’s Lincoln Bicentennial Commission in 2008. 

Sesquicentennial Plaza design elements:

• A bas relief sculpture by renowned artist Lorado Taft. 

• Two Looking for Lincoln storyboards providing historical context of the debate.

• A concrete plaza featuring an 1858 map of the United States and an Illinois flag.

• A low limestone wall flanking the plaza which features six pairs of points/counterpoints from the debate.