Lincoln, Illinois · Est. 1941
Walk besideAbraham Lincoln.
More than one hundred original artifacts downstairs. Upstairs, a journey through the life of Lincoln — beginning at Ford’s Theatre on the night of April 14, 1865.
Sat 1–4
Closed Sun, Mon & holidays
Groups of 10+ — $5 each
Lincoln, IL 62656
Free parking for cars & coaches
Two floors, two experiences
A collection you can stand in front of — and a story you can step inside.
The Lincoln Heritage Museum holds one of the country’s notable private Lincoln collections: furniture he owned, the table he studied on at New Salem, his law books, hand-painted campaign banners from 1860.
Then the museum does something unusual with it. On the second floor, the Immersion Tour opens on the night of the assassination and travels backward through Lincoln’s life — a dozen recreated rooms, told in audio and video, with objects you are invited to touch.
Now on display
Clouds and Darkness Surround Us
The ill-fated life of Mary Lincoln — the most misunderstood figure in the family.
The exhibit gathers items owned by Mrs. Lincoln and the Lincoln family: a lock of Abraham Lincoln’s hair, Mary’s jewelry, her mourning fan and handbag, and a dinner bell from the Lincoln home in Springfield.
Talks, events and day-to-day news are posted on the museum’s Facebook page.
Ways to visit
Come for an hour. Or bring thirty people.
75 minutes
The Immersion Tour
Accompany President Lincoln from rail-splitter to self-taught country lawyer to the White House, through audio-video presentations and realistic room recreations.
About the tour
Pre-K through 12
School field trips
A guided tour, an educational scavenger hunt, and nineteenth-century games — hoop-and-stick, bean-bag-double-can. The museum becomes a very large classroom.
Book a class
10 or more
Group tours
Self-guided first-floor viewing plus a docent-guided Immersion Tour, at a reduced rate of $5 per person. Motor coaches welcome; parking is free.
Group rates
The collection
Rare, original, and unexpectedly close.
Over one hundred items created by, owned by, or associated with Abraham Lincoln, his family and his colleagues are on display every day. The rest is safeguarded in the museum vault.
The collection began in the 1940s with a gift from Lincoln College alumnus Judge Lawrence Stringer, and grew through Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith — the last descendant of the Lincoln family — along with collectors John Gehlbach and former Illinois State Historian Jim Hickey.
From our visitors
“A hidden treasure.”
Rated 4.8 out of 5 and ranked the number one thing to do in Lincoln on Tripadvisor, where the museum is a Travelers’ Choice award winner.
Fantastic museum with a very high tech program. Bring the kids. Educational and entertaining!
The technology was very impressive and told Lincoln’s life story beautifully. Definitely worth the trip.
One of the most interesting museums I have ever visited. Our tour guide certainly knew and understood her subject.
Learn from Lincoln, live like Lincoln
The Abraham Lincoln Center for Character Development
Lincoln was not born with the virtues we attribute to him. He honed and practiced them daily, learned from his mistakes, and compensated for his own shortcomings. The ALCCD works to carry those qualities — honesty, empathy, humility, civility, perseverance, courage — into schools, families and communities.
Contribute to our future
The collection is open to everyone. Keeping it that way takes support.
Gifts to the Lincoln Heritage Museum fund conservation of the collection and the educational outreach that brings school groups through the doors every week — and welcome visitors from all over the world.