Lincoln Funeral Train Monument - Springfield, IL
Posted by: 
adgorn
N 39° 48.143 W 089° 39.109
16S E 272976 N 4409188
A monument at the Springfield Amtrak station commemorates the final train stop of Abraham Lincoln.
Waymark Code: WMQZ5M
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 04/17/2016
Views: 6
More from the roadsideamerica site: "The body of America's 16th President, assassinated in Washington DC on April 14, 1865, traveled for 13-days in a last rites whistle stop tour that looped up to major cities -- Philadelphia, New York City, Buffalo -- and then west. Citizens of the roughly 445 cities along the 1,650 mile route came out to pay their respects and mourn the great loss. The train finally arrived in Springfield on May 3, 1865.
The old train station at Washington and Third Streets is long gone, replaced with a modern Amtrak platform. The Funeral Train Monument is polished black granite, 5-ft. high, featuring an etched funeral train and a sculpted open book. It was dedicated in 2010."
From a State Journal-Register article at (
visit link) : "The monument, a 5-foot-tall, $8,000 black-polished granite marker with an open-book carving, denotes the moment on May 3, 1865, when the city received Lincoln’s body at the train station at Third and Washington streets. It was the train’s last destination following an emotional, 13-day, 1,650-mile journey west from Washington, D.C.
The Lincoln-era station has since been replaced, and Amtrak now runs the depot. But tourists still seek out the location, said Katie Spindell of Springfield, a driving force behind the monument. Spindell came up with the design and its simple wording: “At this site, countless mourners stood in solemn witness as the Chicago and Alton Railroad Engine No. 58 arrived pulling the funeral train carrying the remains of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States.”