Lincoln Home National Historic Site

About

Lincoln Home National Historic Site preserves the four-block Springfield, Illinois neighborhood where Abraham Lincoln lived for 17 years before his presidency. The centerpiece is the frame house at Eighth and Jackson Streets, the only home Lincoln ever owned, where he and Mary Todd Lincoln raised their family from 1844 to 1861.

Start at the Visitor Center at 426 South Seventh Street, open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except January 1, Thanksgiving, and December 25. Staff there issue the free tour tickets required to enter the Lincoln Home; on busy days between March and November tickets can run out before the last tour at 4 p.m., so arriving early helps. Rangers lead roughly 25-minute tours of the home's first floor, describing the Lincolns' daily life and the political visitors who passed through.

The surrounding four blocks hold several restored 19th-century houses, including the Dean House and Arnold House, connected by gravel streets and wooden boardwalks. Wayside exhibits along the way cover Lincoln's neighbors and the wider neighborhood as it looked before the Civil War. Plan on 90 minutes or more to see the home and walk the block.

There is no entrance fee for the site or the home tour, but parking in the site's own lot costs $2 per hour, paid by card at the gate kiosk (the park does not accept cash). The lot sits south of the Visitor Center off Seventh Street; a separate lot north of the Visitor Center is reserved for buses and oversized vehicles.

Springfield's other Lincoln sites are within walking or short driving distance, including the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and the Old State Capitol, where Lincoln practiced law and delivered his "House Divided" speech. Springfield is about a three-hour drive from Chicago and roughly 90 minutes from St. Louis.

Accessibility

Lincoln Home National Historic Site is partly wheelchair accessible: the Visitor Center is fully accessible, and the Lincoln Home itself can be toured on its first floor only, since the historic building has no elevator to the second story.

Parking is in the lot south of the Visitor Center, which has three accessibility-reserved spaces. From there a paved path with a slight uphill grade leads to the Visitor Center; a ramp sits to the left of the front steps, and both the south and north entrances use push-button doors. Inside, both restrooms are wheelchair accessible, and free wheelchairs are available at the front desk on a first-come, first-served basis.

Getting around the four-block site itself is harder going. The streets are loose gravel and the connecting boardwalks are wood, which can be uneven and slippery when wet or icy. Curbs between boardwalk and street are relatively deep, and there is no ramp at the corner of Eighth and Jackson; sidewalks connect to the street at the ends of each block instead. To reach the Lincoln Home's first floor, tell the ranger issuing tickets that you need the lift-accessible entrance, since the marked front door has nine steps. Motorized wheelchairs and scooters are not allowed inside the home, though manual wheelchairs are permitted if they clear the doorways and corners. The nearby Dean House uses a wheelchair lift next to its south entrance, and the Arnold House has a ramp entrance reached through a gate on its south side; neither building has a restroom.

For visitors who are Deaf or hard of hearing, assisted listening devices can be checked out at the Visitor Center, and the orientation film is open captioned and audio described. A sign language interpreter can be arranged for a tour, but you need to request one in advance by calling the site. Braille tour booklets and a sensory/tactile tour book are also available for checkout, along with tour videos subtitled in nine languages.

Service animals are welcome under the ADA, but the park notes that an animal accompanying a visitor into the Lincoln Home must be able to manage stairs. If you need specific accommodations, call the Visitor Center at (217) 492-4241 before your visit to confirm current conditions.

Checked by Accessible America, August 2026. Report a change

More accessible places in Illinois

• Illinois State Museum (Springfield)
• Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (Springfield)
• Adler Planetarium (Chicago)
• National Museum of Mexican Art (Chicago)
• Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago)
• DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center (Chicago)

Photo credits

• The Lincoln Home's tan exterior with green shutters and a wraparound porch, seen from the street corner.: George Longenecker, CC BY-SA 4.0 (source)
• Lincoln Home National Historic Site - il-lincoln-home-national-historic-site-us-national-park-service-1: National Park Service, Public domain (U.S. National Park Service)
• Lincoln Home National Historic Site - il-lincoln-home-national-historic-site-us-national-park-service-3: National Park Service, Public domain (U.S. National Park Service)
• Front of the Lincoln Home with its entrance door and front steps flanked by green shuttered windows.: Gwen Alston, CC BY-SA 4.0 (source)
• Lincoln Home National Historic Site - il-lincoln-home-national-historic-site-us-national-park-service-4: National Park Service, Public domain (U.S. National Park Service)
• Row of preserved 19th century houses with white picket fences along the Lincoln Home Historic Site street.: Wikimedia Commons contributor, CC BY-SA 2.5 (source)