|
Atlanta, Elkhart, Middletown and Mount Pulaski to Receive Looking
for Lincoln Wayside Exhibits
Send a link to a friend
[December 15, 2007]
Over the last several months, the Illinois
Looking for Lincoln project has been working with federal officials
to make Looking for Lincoln wayside exhibits more affordable to
Abraham Lincoln communities. Sen. Richard Durbin obtained funding
through a HUD grant for this particular program for wayside exhibit
and interpretive panels. In April, members of the Abraham Lincoln
Tourism Bureau of Logan County and several community members from
Logan County attended workshops in Springfield to facilitate the
process.
|
 As a result of this process, the Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of
Logan County was able to assist the communities of Atlanta, Elkhart
and Middletown in successfully receiving wayside exhibits for their
communities at a 50 percent discount. The Mount Pulaski Looking for
Lincoln committee also obtained a wayside exhibit through this
program.
The next task will be to have all the designs for the wayside
exhibits completed and turned in by the end of the year.
The Atlanta interpretive panel will be located on Arch Street and
will depict the story of the Atlanta Chapter of the Wide Awakes,
which was one of the first political organizations in support of
Abraham Lincoln. The tourism bureau will work with Atlanta Mayor
Bill Martin and Alderman Annette Chapman, as well as Atlanta
residents Bill Thomas and Susan Hoblit. The city of Atlanta will
cover the $3,400 in matching costs for the interpretive panel.
The tourism bureau is also assisting the Elkhart Historical
Society in completing their wayside exhibit, to be located at
Elkhart Cemetery, which contains the Elkhart Chapel, Gov. Oglesby's
tomb and the John P. Gillett Memorial Arch. The interpretive panel
will use photographs of Robert Todd Lincoln crossing the bridge into
the cemetery at Oglesby's funeral. Elkhart Historical Society will
provide the matching funds of $3,400 to finance the exhibit.
[to top of second column]
 |
The wayside exhibit in Middletown will be located at the Dunlap
House, also known as the Middletown Stagecoach Inn, which was a
stagecoach stop on the road between Springfield and Peoria. In 1848,
Lincoln and his family stayed at the inn while returning from
Washington, D.C. The Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County
is working with the Middletown Bicentennial Commission on this
particular project, and that group is putting up the $2,000 in
matching costs. The Mount Pulaski Looking for Lincoln Committee
has asked the tourism bureau to assist in preparing their wayside
exhibit.
There were no new applications for wayside exhibits in Lincoln,
which does not fall under the jurisdiction of the tourism bureau.
There is a wayside exhibit at the site of the christening scene in
Lincoln, which was funded by the Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of
Logan County and is owned and maintained by the bureau for the
benefit of the citizens of the county.
"The tourism bureau has always represented the entire county, and
we are more than willing to help bring these very important wayside
exhibits to our communities," said Geoff Ladd, executive director of
the Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County, who attended the
state conferences in Springfield regarding these exhibits. "The plan
is to have the signs completed and on permanent display before
Lincoln's 199th birthday in February," he said.
(Illustrations
of the Looking for Lincoln wayside exhibits in Logan County)
[To download Adobe Acrobat Reader for
the PDF file, click
here.]
[Text from file received from
Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of
Logan County]
 |
