Lincoln Aldermen discuss proposed
new logo for new Lincoln Office of Tourism
[July 17, 2025]
At the Tuesday evening
Committee of the Whole meeting of the Lincoln City Council, aldermen
got a first look at the proposed logo for the new “Lincoln Illinois
Office of Tourism.” The logo was presented to the council by
Director of Tourism Scott McCoy, and it was met with mixed feelings
right at the beginning.
The first one to speak on the topic was Alderman Kevin Bateman who
stated simply that he did not like it and felt like there were
better options. Later in the evening after hearing some of the
research and reasoning behind the logo, Bateman warmed up to the
image a bit more.

The logo is round with a Route 66
“badge” and the number “66” in the center with a hand drawn image of
Abraham Lincoln laid over it. The logo was created by a local artist.
Alderman Steve Parrott noted right away that the Lincoln on the logo
was not the pre-presidential Lincoln that was known to the city of
Lincoln and Logan County back in the 1800s when the city was named
for Abraham Lincoln. He said that local historians would recognize
that when Lincoln was a young lawyer in this area he did not wear a
beard.

McCoy said that was true and the
accuracy of the image had been a topic of discussion and trial
drawings. He said what happened though, was that the images were
shown to school children and for the most part the Lincoln with no
beard and hat was not well-known to youngsters. On the other hand,
when the traditional stove pipe hat and beard were added, children
identified immediately that it was Abraham Lincoln.

Alderwoman Rhonda O’Donoghue said
she felt the drawing was rather “cartoony.” Alderwoman Robin
McClallen agreed, but she said that when she saw the logo on the
whole, her first impression was “friendly” and “approachable,” so
she felt that from perspective it was a good logo.
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Mayor Tracy Welch
commented saying that his first thought had been “Whimsical,”
which was also not a bad thing.
Bateman came back and said that yes he
would go along with the word whimsical and that yes the world does
associate the hat and beard with Lincoln, so he could go along with
that. He added that he just thought the whole thing needed a little
tweaking.
McCoy reminded the aldermen that the logo didn’t have to be serious
or formal that having something that was whimsical and memorable was
far better. He also said that the design needed to remain clean and
simple because it would be used in a number of ways such as on
letterheads, business cards, and stamps.
McCoy was asked about the terminology “Office of Tourism” instead of
Tourism Department.
McCoy said that tourism would be different than the typical city
department such as police and fire where serious work is done for
the city and citizens so referring to it differently would be
appropriate. In addition, he said that looking at it fully “Lincoln
Office of Tourism” could have an acronym of “LOT,” and he felt that
was also quite fitting because Lincoln does have a LOT to offer.
At the end of the conversation, Welch said that the hope was that
this would move forward quickly as the new office of tourism is
developing quickly and will be moving to achieve goals in time for
the 2026 anniversary of Route 66.
McCoy had also mentioned that there were color versions of the logo
and aldermen also want to see those.
The logo was then placed on the Monday, July 21st voting agenda.
[Nila Smith]
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