Interactive Map

William De Fleurville, an African-American barber, owned this property during Lincoln's time. Lincoln helped de Fleurville, known as "Billy the Barber" obtain a replacement deed for this property, and he also paid the property taxes while de Fleurville was living in Springfield. IN the late 1890's, Robert Loudon, a local businessman who owned a foundry and machine shop, built these apartment flats. They have since been converted into condominium units that now go by the name "The Bloomington".

Looking for Lincoln wayside exhibits tell the stories of Lincoln’s life and times in Illinois.  Each wayside exhibit tells a unique Lincoln story and a local story.  Many of the waysides share little known stories about Lincoln and the individuals he interacted with.  There are over 260 Looking for Lincoln waysides in the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area.    

The winter of 1830-31 would be one to go down in history.  The Winter of the Deep Snow blanketed Illinois to a depth of three feet on the level with drifts of four to six feet.  Storms with high winds continued for 60 days.  Many families were snowbound in their homes and travelers remained wherever they happened to be when the snow started.  Abraham Lincoln tells of spending the “celebrated ‘deep snow’ of Illinois”.

Looking for Lincoln wayside exhibits tell the stories of Lincoln’s life and times in Illinois.  Each wayside exhibit tells a unique Lincoln story and a local story.  Many of the waysides share little known stories about Lincoln and the individuals he interacted with.  There are over 260 Looking for Lincoln waysides in the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area.    

 In the summer of 1858, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas began to campaign for the Senate seats from Illinois that was to lead to the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates.  The Republicans' initial strategy called for Lincoln to follow Douglas around Illinois, with each candidate addressing the crowds individually...  

Posters all over DeWitt County announced that Douglas would arrive on the morning train.  A small group was present when the 5:00 A.M. train pulled in without Douglas.  A group of two or three hundred persons (two-thirds of them Republicans, a local paper noted), along with a band ready to play and with a flag to unfurl, met the 7:00 A.M. train.  However, Lincoln, not Douglas, emerged to great cheering.  Lincoln lingered on, working the growing crowd as they waited for Douglas's appearance, which did not come until 4:00 P.M.  Douglas, with our even acknowledging the crowd, went straight to a waiting carriage and drove to the fairgrounds a mile southwest of Clinton to give his speech...  

"You can fool all the people part of the time and part of the people all the time, but you can not fool all the people all the time."  Although scholars disagreed, the people of Clinton vouched for this Lincoln utterance, as did reporters from the Chicago Tribune and the Brooklyn Daily Eagle...

Looking for Lincoln wayside exhibits tell the stories of Lincoln’s life and times in Illinois.  Each wayside exhibit tells a unique Lincoln story and a local story.  Many of the waysides share little known stories about Lincoln and the individuals he interacted with.  There are over 260 Looking for Lincoln waysides in the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area.