Lincoln Tomb facts for kids
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Lincoln Tomb and War Memorials State Historic Site
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Abraham Lincoln's tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery in July 2005.
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| Location | Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois, U.S. |
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| Built | 1868-1874 |
| Architect | Larkin Goldsmith Mead |
| NRHP reference No. | 66000330 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NHL | December 19, 1960 |
The Lincoln Tomb is the final resting place of the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, 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 single-story rectangular base, surmounted by an obelisk, with a semicircular receiving room entrance-way, on one end, and semicircular crypt or burial-room opposite.
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 where near the center are several statues located at the base of the obelisk. The obelisk rises 117 feet (36m) high.
A bronze recasting of sculptor Gutzon Borglum's head of Lincoln in the U.S. Capitol rests on a pedestal in front of the entrance way. Inside the 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 statues of Lincoln are displayed. A stained glass window and flags adorn the crypt, which is centered around a red marble cenotaph.
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.
Images for kids
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1865 illustration of Lincoln burial (Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper)
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The receiving vault (foreground) and the tomb (background)
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The bronze prototype casting by Daniel Chester French of his 1920 sculpture in the Lincoln Memorial in the rotunda of Lincoln's Tomb. Several famous Lincoln sculptures line the crypt, including one of Abraham Lincoln: The Man
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Infantry and Cavalry statues at the corners of the obelisk.
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The Art Deco burial room, with red marble memorial monument
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Mary Todd Lincoln's crypt in the Burial Room is next to those of her sons
See also
In Spanish: Tumba de Lincoln para niños
