Lincoln, Illinois

City: Lincoln

County: Logan

State: Illinois

Lat/Long: 40.1333, -89.3500

Laid out by Russell Post in 1835, the town of Postville became the temporary county seat of Logan County when commissioners appointed by the Illinois General Assembly selected it in May 1839. In 1841, the Illinois General Assembly made Postville the permanent county seat. In 1847, Logan County voters moved the county seat to Mount Pulaski, resulting in the decline and eventual union of Postville with Lincoln, about a mile away. For a short period during this time, the town's name was changed to Camden, and then back to Postville. In 1852, the Alton & Sangamon Railroad extended through Logan County, and voters decided to move the county seat from Mount Pulaski to a new town on the road. Town organizers named the new town Lincoln in honor of Abraham Lincoln, making Lincoln the first town named after Lincoln and the only town named for Lincoln before he became president.

An Act to Establish the Counties of Menard, Logan, and Dane; An Act to Locate Permanently the Seat of Justice of Logan County; History of Logan County, Illinois (Chicago: Donnelley, Loyd, 1878), 266-67; Lawrence B. Stringer, History of Logan County Illinois (Chicago: Pioneer, 1911), 1:150-51, 157-58, 160, 563-64; James N. Adams, comp., Illinois Place Names (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Society, 1989), 310.