The capital of Illinois

Blogging from Springfield, Illinois on my Treo 650.

After a rainy drive down Interstate 55, Little Marathon Pundit and I arrived in the reconstructed Lincoln's New Salem near Petersburg, Illinois.

New Salem was a town for just ten years, 1830-1840, pretty much the time Lincoln lived there.

We came to New Salem clearly in the off-season. The parking lot for the historical site accomodates about 300 cars. Ours was the only one parked there.

Here's a little factoid: The New Salem property was originally purchased--in 1906--by legendary newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst, who later transferred the property to the State of Illinois.

Tomorrow: The still fairly new Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, the Lincoln Home, and maybe the State Capitol Building