Looking for Lincoln in Danville

Danville is yet another epicenter of Linconalia. Just up the main drag you can find the former home of William Fithian, state legislator in Illinois and close friend of Abraham Lincoln.

Outside of Fithian Home, now the Vermilion County Museum, are several monuments built from the stone used in Lincoln's Danville law office.

On top of one of the monuments sits an old salt kettle from one of the area's salt works.

Another supports a millstone from a nearby mill.

Somehow, the Danvillers got their hands on a stone from Lincoln's Tomb in Springfield. I just hope to God the folks in Decatur don't discover this bit of perfidy.

In the parking lot next to the Fithian Home/Vermilion County Museum, they've erected a bronze stele dedicated to the most prominent movers and shakers of Danville History: Lincoln, Fithian, and our old friend, Uncle Joe Cannon. Note: since this bronze plaque isn't devoted solely to Lincoln, and since it isn't really a statue, it doesn't figure into the Official Lincoln Statue Count, which remains at five.

The Legendary Fithian Home. Built in 1855 in the Greek Revival Style. Here's how you know:

• Symmetrical Shape.
• Heavy Cornice (a cornice is the horizontal band that runs along the top of a wall or floor, crown molding is a cornice).
• Pedimented Gable (basically the triangular area formed by the gable and the cornice).
• Narrow Windows around Front Door.
• Entry Porch with Columns.
• Basically the front of it looks like a Greek temple.

Fithian hosted Lincoln here everytime he was in town. Yes, Lincoln slept here. Also, during his 1858 bid for a seat in the US Senate, Lincoln gave a speech from south balcony. This impromptu speech is memorialized on a random building downtown:

In search of the other Lincoln Site in town, the Lamon House, we traveled to Lincoln Park. Don't confuse this with the abysmal rock band that only people from Dallas like. Also, don't make the mistake of thinking this is unique. Every town in Illinois has at least one Lincoln Park. Look how huge these trees are:

The Lamon House, in the interest of looking on the bright side, was a bitter disappointment. Not only did it take us half an hour to find, but this 1850 home of a cousin of a friend of Lincoln's looked woefully in need of a fresh coat of paint. According to reliable sources, this house is an early representative of the Greek Revival  style. Compare with the Fithian Home above. They say it's possible that Lincoln may have ridden a horse past the front of this house once. Also, this is the oldest frame house in the county.

And here's your moment of Zen: