On August 27, 1853, Abraham Lincoln was asked to come to this spot to christen the new town that was being named in his honor. A nearby sign tells the story:
On August 27, 1853 the first sale of lots in the new town of Lincoln took place near this spot. In attendance was ABRAHAM LINCOLN, in whose honor the town had been named. “Nothing with the name of Lincoln has ever amounted to much,” he had reportedly quipped in response.
Lincoln was nevertheless obliging when a promoter asked him on the day of the land sale to officially “christen the town.” Lincoln picked an appropriate melon and conducted a brief “christening ceremony.”
Thirteen year-old John S. Stevens was in attendance and later recalled the event: “We were all seated on the several lumber piles. For myself I had selected the end of a projecting board which would spring nicely with my weight and near where Mr. Lincoln stood. He opened the melon with his pocket knife which just reached well through the rind, running all around, bumped the melon on the lumber, it opened nicely with all the core on one side. He cut this core, squeezed the water into a tin cup saying, ‘Gentlemen, I am requested by the proprietors of the town site to christen it, I have selected the juice of a melon for that purpose, pouring it on the ground. Therefore, in your presence and hearing, I now christen this town site. Its name is Lincoln and soon to be named the permanent capital of Logan County. I have also prepared a feast for the occasion.”
Pulling the wagon cover from the pile of melons, he took one half of the melon he had opened for christening, laid it on the board before me saying, “The youngest American on the ground shall feast with me on the christening melon.” Picking up the other half he pointed to the pile and said “Gentlemen, help yourself.”
In the 1960s, the city government of Lincoln decided to enhance it’s severe weather forecasting abilities. To do so, they placed a phone booth on the roof of city hall, with a phone connected only to the offices downstairs. During storms, the youngest single firefighter was sent up to the booth. The storm warning system has been improved, but the phone booth still sits on the roof.
You can’t have enough monuments to Lincoln in a town called Lincoln. Lincoln College, in town, has two.
At least they let him sit down for one of them. The sitting Lincoln is in front of the college library which has a Lincoln museum that is supposed to be worthwhile, although I didn’t have time to visit on this trip.
