Standing Lincoln, Lincoln Park, Chicago
After visiting the Chicago History Museum and looking at The Children’s Fountain I came across this bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln in the museum’s east lawn, in Lincoln Park. The statue is called “Standing Lincoln” and was completed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens in 1887.
I quite liked the monument and if I lived or worked nearby I might enjoy my lunch in Lincoln’s shadow as these others were doing. In front of the monument were some landscaped gardens that were really pretty to look at. Must be a nice lunch break for nearby workers.
As I continued to walk around the museum, to the north I saw this marble-looking box with a very short fence around it. I was getting tired and hungry so I didn’t go over to see what it was. I thought it was probably something of ComEd’s or some kind of waterworks thing. Who knows. Boring. Reading this Wikipedia entry on Lincoln Park I realized that it’s an old mausoleum. Dang! I wish I would have gone over. Lincoln Park was a cemetery before a park and when they relocated all the graves, the Couch family refused to move. Their tomb stands to this day, see a photo here.
9 responses so far ↓
1 Joel // Aug 13, 2008 at 7:47 am
Is it me or is that statue very …. uhhh … anatomically correct?
2 RachelleB // Aug 13, 2008 at 8:13 am
heh, i didnt even notice til you said..
3 Richard // Aug 13, 2008 at 9:14 am
There is a nice Lincoln statue in Milwaukee near the art museum. Here’s a photo of it, you can see the Calatrava in the background.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ZHk94JrPJR8/SFiBsDXg1XI/AAAAAAAAAI8/7RXsw5ZLTX0/IMG_3081.JPG
4 RachelleB // Aug 13, 2008 at 10:24 am
Your link didn’t work, but do you remember the statue of Lincoln seated that we saw in Grant Park?
5 Richard // Aug 13, 2008 at 1:42 pm
I do remember that. Try these links:
http://lh5.ggpht.com/bahrtlec/SFiBsDXg1XI/AAAAAAAAAI8/3nTaAtKbAZE/IMG_3081.JPG?imgmax=512
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mjmonty/2670332137/
6 RachelleB // Aug 13, 2008 at 8:04 pm
oh nice.
the statue of lincoln in grant park? I heard there’s a statue of grant in lincoln park, but i havent seen it.
7 Mike // Aug 14, 2008 at 10:30 am
When I was in HS at Latin, which is right by the statue, the legend was that a Confederate prison camp was on the site of the statue and that many of the prisoners had died of dysentery and were buried in a mass grave under the statue. Always wondered about that…
8 smussyolay // Aug 14, 2008 at 3:46 pm
i think there’s a statue of lincoln by the walgreens in lincoln square. or maybe it’s just some random guy.
9 RachelleB // Aug 14, 2008 at 5:14 pm
is this the one? that’s 3 statues of lincoln in chicago.
mike - since lincoln park used to be a cemetery, maybe the legend is correct?
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