Day nineteen – Friday

This morning we wandered around Lincoln’s New Salem Historic Site. This is the site of New Salem which is the town Lincoln lived in when he was in his 20’s. The town was re-created in its original form as well as could be. They were able to tell where the buildings were by the cellars and other artifacts. One original building was returned from nearby Petersburg where it had been moved in the 1800’s. Back then it was easier to dismantle and move a building than it was to cut and shape new logs to build a new structure. Additional buildings were constructed in 1932-33 to the same specifications as the original buildings and in the original locations. There are people in period costumes who are in some of the buildings to answer questions about the building and life in the 1830’s.

While living here, Lincoln was a surveyor, store owner, Postmaster and did odd jobs such as splitting rails. He left New Salem before the end of the decade to be a lawyer in Springfield.

Today was only a 215 mile day. We left the park at about 2:30 p.m. and headed east. We drove to Springfield where we caught Hwy 72 east. We stopped in Decatur, Illinois for fuel and then continued to Champagne, Illinois where we got on Hwy 74 to a rest stop just west of Indianapolis, Indiana. We’ll spend the night here. No, we didn’t make it to Dayton, Ohio. We just spent too much time in the park this morning and didn’t want to push it too far. Plus, we passed into the Eastern Time Zone and lost another hour.

We highly recommend the campground at Lincoln’s New Salem Historic Site for short stays. Since the sites don’t have water or sewer hookups, it’s not good for long stays. However, we found the campground to be very clean, green and comfortable. The Cicadas are somewhat noisy but you don’t notice them once you’re inside.

The picture is of a woman wearing period clothing and sitting in the re-creation of the Inn in New Salem. Back then, $0.75 would get your two nights lodging with meals.