Occupying an entire city block in downtown Springfield, Illinois, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum is the largest Presidential Museum. With over 50,000 square feet devoted to state-of-the-art full-immersion exhibits, special effects theaters and displays of original artifacts, it is also the first major Experience Museum of its kind.
Instead of the traditional museum design of static exhibits with flat images and dead objects in glass boxes, this Museum employs 21st century technology to bring 19th century history to life. Bringing education, storytelling, and advanced entertainment technology together in a truly innovative way, the museum invites, guides, and envelops visitors in the life and times of Abraham Lincoln.
Reinventing the Museum Experience
Designed, created and produced by BRC Imaginations Arts, for the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, the museum combines scholarship with showmanship. More than 36 scholars, historians, teachers, and historical advisors – including some of the world’s foremost authorities on Lincoln’s life and presidency, as well as 41 other organizations, gave rigorous input and guidance to the creation of this ground-breaking museum.
Designed from the inside out, the concept and experience design were created before the building itself. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum engages visitors in a new way, leaving them more informed and inspired than when they entered the museum.
The Layout and Concept
The Plaza is at the center of the museum, an open gathering place from which all the areas of the museum are accessed. All galleries and experiences are arranged around the Plaza, which becomes a central orientation point. It welcomes and invites visitors to journey through the remarkable life and times of Abraham Lincoln, from his childhood through his presidency.
The Plaza: Lincoln's boyhood log cabin (start of Journey I);
White House South Portico, 1860 (start of Journey II)
The museum is a walk-through experience, a Journey, divided into two parts – The Journey, Part I -The Pre-Presidential Years, and The Journey, Part II- The White House Years. They are comprised of two kinds of gallery spaces:
Immersive Settings: Highly researched, dramatic, “you-are-there” settings that put you “inside” dramatic moments in Lincoln’s life through great storytelling and vivid immersive environments.
Object Galleries: World-class traditional museum gallery rooms, or “object galleries,” present the real historical artifacts. They are made all the more powerful because the visitors have just personally experienced the story context that explains their importance.
Take Your Picture With The Lincoln Family
In the Plaza you can take a photo of your family posing with the Lincolns as they would have appeared shortly after arriving in the White House.
- 9:00 AM — 5:00 PM DAILY (ticket sales end at 4:00PM)
CLOSED — New Year's Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day
Cafe offers in-house dining (9am - 4pm daily)
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum is located at:
212 North Sixth Street
Springfield, IL 62701
[ map ]
Official web site: www.alplm.org
What's Inside . . . The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library