Winner, ISHS Best of Illinois History Award, 2019

This richly illustrated compendium of twenty-two historic buildings in the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area includes houses, a hotel, and an art center, all of which are open to the public. Each site links today’s visitors with a place Lincoln lived, a home of a Lincoln friend or colleague, or a spot that illuminates Lincoln’s era and legacy in central Illinois. Along with dozens of modern and historical photographs, entries contain explorations of historical connections to Lincoln and detailed information about exceptional features and artifacts. Complete with maps, this showcase of Illinois heritage is a handy guide for day trips, extended tours, or armchair adventures.
 

Erika Holst, the author of Edwards Place: A Springfield Treasure and Wicked Springfield: Crime, Corruption, and Scandal during the Lincoln Era, is the curator of decorative arts and history at the Illinois State Museum in Springfield, Illinois.

"Erika Holst is to be commended for a well-written and properly researched work. It is a significant addition to the heritage of Abraham Lincoln in this state. Enjoy the pictorials and then read the descriptions. You might even do it with family members."—Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society

"This book is a fascinating, heavily illustrated, slim guidebook that further illuminates the life of America’s favorite president." —Ellen Neumann, H-Net

“If a picture is worth a thousand words, this book is priceless. Learned, informative, and intriguing, Looking for Lincoln in Illinois: Historic Houses of Lincoln's Illinois proudly showcases a new social history that brings historic sites alive. I warmly recommend it for all Americans who have rediscovered Lincoln in a troubled era.”—Charles B. Strozier, author of Your Friend Forever, A. Lincoln: The Enduring Friendship of Abraham Lincoln and Joshua Speed
 
“A welcome addition to the Looking for Lincoln in Illinois series, Erika Holst’s thoroughly researched, clearly written, and handsomely illustrated book ably supplements previous works by Bryon Andreasen and Guy Fraker. Anyone in search of central Illinois Lincoln sites will find this volume and its companions indispensable guides.”—Michael Burlingame, editor of Sixteenth President-in-Waiting: Abraham Lincoln and the Springfield Dispatches of Henry Villard, 1860–1861
 
“In this volume, Erika Holst welcomes a new generation into the historic homes of Lincoln’s era, introducing them to the sixteenth president’s central Illinois contemporaries and the tumultuous times they lived through.”—Samuel Wheeler, Illinois State Historian, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum

“All serious Lincoln admirers need access to this guide. It leads us on an enjoyable tour of twenty-two places in Central Illinois touched by Lincoln and his legacy: houses, hotels, cabins, and mansions.”—Joseph Edward Lee, The Lincoln Herald