thumb|1865 illustration of Lincoln burial ([[Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper)]]

thumb|180px|right|The receiving vault (foreground) and the tomb (background)

The Lincoln Tomb is the final resting place of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States; his wife Mary Todd Lincoln; and three of their four sons: Edward, William, and Thomas. It is located in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois.

Constructed of granite, the tomb has a tall, story-and-a-half base in trapezoidal form, surmounted by an obelisk, with a semicircular receiving room entranceway on one end and a semicircular crypt or burial room opposite. On the exterior, four flights of balustraded stairs lead to a level terrace. The balustrade extends around the terrace to form a parapet, and there are several bronze statues, reliefs, and stone carvings located at the base of the obelisk. The obelisk rises 117 feet (36m) high.

A bronze recasting of Gutzon Borglum's head of Lincoln stands on a pedestal in front of the entrance way; Borglum's original marble bust is in the U.S. Capitol. Inside the tomb's ground level entrance is a rotunda with connecting hallways to the burial room. Marble is used throughout the interior, and several well-known, specially cast bronze statues of Lincoln are displayed in the entrance room and hallways. A stained glass window and flags adorn the crypt, which is centered around an inscribed red marble monument.

At the close of the ceremonies and events marking Lincoln's death, his body was placed in a nearby receiving tomb and later in the state tomb. The mausoleum is owned and administered by the State of Illinois as Lincoln Tomb State Historic Site. It was designated one of the first National Historic Landmarks in 1960, and thus became one of the first sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, when that designation was created.

History

On April 16, 1865, two days after President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, a group of Springfield citizens formed the National Lincoln Monument Association and spearheaded a drive for funds to construct a memorial or tomb. Upon arrival of the funeral train on May 3, Lincoln lay in state in the Illinois State Capitol for one night. After funeral and burial services the next day, his coffin was placed in a receiving vault at Oak Ridge Cemetery, the site Mrs. Lincoln requested for burial. dressed at Quincy, Massachusetts, it has a rectangular base surmounted by a -high obelisk and a semicircular entranceway. A bronze reproduction by sculptor Gutzon Borglum of his head of Lincoln in the U.S. Capitol rests on a pedestal in front of the entranceway. Four flights of balustraded stairs—two flanking the entrance at the front and two at the rear—lead to a level terrace. The balustrade extends around the terrace to form a parapet. Originally open to the public, the terrace has since been closed due to safety concerns.

thumb|Infantry and Cavalry statues at the corners of the obelisk.

In the center of the terrace, a large and ornate base supports the obelisk. On the walls of the base are 40 hewn stones, cut to represent raised shields, 37 are engraved with the abbreviation of a State at the time the tomb was built. The remaining 3 are marked U, S, A. Each shield is connected to another by two raised bands, and thus the group forms an unbroken chain encircling the base. Four bronze statues adorn the corners of the latter. They represent the infantry, navy, artillery, and cavalry of the Civil War period. In front of the obelisk and above the entrance stands a full-length statue of Lincoln.

The interior of the memorial, constructed of marble from Minnesota, Missouri, Massachusetts, Arkansas, Utah, Italy, Spain, France, and Belgium, The room also contains 36 bronze panels, one for each state at the time of Lincoln's death. The ceiling is of palladium leaf.

thumb|left|The [[Art Deco burial room, with red marble memorial monument]]

Corridors lead from the rotunda to the burial room at the rear of the memorial. Located in niches along the corridor walls are eight statues by prominent sculptors depicting various phases of Lincoln's life. Four bronze tablets on the walls are engraved with the Farewell Address, the Gettysburg Address, a portion of the Second Inaugural Address, and a biographical sketch. Large gold stars in sets of 12 at each corner of the memorial represent the 48 states in the Union at the time of its 1930 redecoration.]]The burial room features black and white marble walls and a ceiling of gold leaf. At its center stands the memorial monument, a 7-ton block of reddish marble inscribed with Lincoln's name and the years he lived. It marks the approximate location of the burial vault, which is 30 inches behind and 10 feet below. Nine flags are arranged in a semicircle around the cenotaph. Seven of them—the State flags of Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois—commemorate the homes of Lincoln and his ancestors. The eighth and ninth are the U.S. flag and the Presidential flag. The inscription "Now he belongs to the ages," reputedly spoken by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton at the time of Lincoln's death, is inscribed in the wall above a stained glass window.

Adjacent memorials

Also part of the site overseen by the State of Illinois, and a short distance from the tomb, three war memorials have been erected:

  • The World War II Illinois Veterans Memorial was dedicated in December 2004. This memorial honors the 987,000 Illinois men and women who served in World War II and the 22,000 who gave their lives. Its focal point is a white 22-ton concrete globe flanked on two sides by black granite walls. Stainless steel buttons on the globe identify major battles, and quotations from military leaders, and Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman are engraved on the wall.
  • The Korean War Memorial honors 1,748 Illinoisans killed during the 1950–53 Korean War. This memorial was dedicated on June 16, 1996. The memorial consists of a twelve-foot-tall bronze bell, with a diameter of twelve feet, mounted on a granite base. At the circumference of the bell are four niches, each with a larger-than-life figure representing a branch of the armed services. Inscribed on the base are the names of Illinoisans killed in Korea. A carillon system in the Memorial plays brief musical programs at regular intervals.
  • The Vietnam Veterans Memorial honors the almost 3,000 Illinoisans killed during the Vietnam War, and was dedicated in 1988. The memorial has a circular layout allowing visitors to enter the interior courtyard from any direction. The names of those killed or missing in action are on five granite slabs, each slab representing one of the branches of the United States Military.

See also

  • List of National Historic Landmarks in Illinois
  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Sangamon County, Illinois
  • Presidential memorials in the United States
  • List of burial places of presidents and vice presidents of the United States

References

  • Information taken from a National Park Service website.
  • National Historic Landmark information

de:Oak Ridge Cemetery#Abraham Lincolns Grab