Springfield: Experience History and Culture

Springfield combines American history with impressive historic houses, political memorial sites, and a unique perspective on Route 66. Those planning a trip filled with cultural discoveries will find different ways to explore the city here: guided tours of historic buildings, self-guided walks, and exhibitions featuring original preserved furnishings. When choosing a holiday apartment in Springfield, it is therefore worth defining your personal focus and organizing your planned visits accordingly.

In the Footsteps of Abraham Lincoln

The Lincoln Home National Historic Site preserves and interprets the house where Abraham Lincoln lived with his family from 1844 to 1861. Lincoln Home can be visited as part of a guided tour. Admission to this tour is free, but tickets are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis and are often quickly sold out. Anyone wishing to include this visit firmly in their plans should therefore take the ticket situation into account when planning the day.

Lincoln Tomb is another historic experience in Springfield. Visitors can tour the interior as part of a guided visit. Together with Lincoln Home, it creates an itinerary focused on specific places and the life story of an influential figure. Families with different interests can combine this focus with other buildings and walking tours.

Historic Architecture and Guided Tours

The Old State Capitol is a reconstruction of the Illinois State House from the period between 1840 and 1876. You can visit the historic site on a guided or self-guided tour. No admission fee is charged for the tour; donations to support the historic site are welcome. The choice between an accompanied visit and an independent tour allows for different approaches to travel planning, depending on how extensively you would like to explore the site.

Another worthwhile place to visit is the Vachel Lindsay House, a historic house museum in Springfield, Illinois. The Dana-Thomas House complements the architectural focus with a building by Frank Lloyd Wright from his early Prairie period. The house preserves more than 100 original oak furnishings designed by Wright, as well as 250 examples of art-glass fixtures and lamps. This allows architecture to be experienced not only through its exterior form, but also through its design and original details.

Route 66 and African American History

Route History focuses on another aspect of the city’s history. The attraction explains how Route 66 influenced African American history in Springfield and beyond. This focus expands the traditional view of historic buildings to include transportation, social, and memorial history. Those who wish to combine different perspectives can include Route History, the Lincoln sites, the Old State Capitol, and the house museums in their travel plans.

First decide which experiences should be the centerpiece, and then choose accommodation that suits your preferred pace of travel and planned itinerary.

For the overarching travel overview: Sangamon County.