Sculptor John McClarey of Decatur, Ill., created a statue depicting Lincoln in September 1858 when he arrived in Hillsboro, Ill., while running for Senate. The statue, located near the Montgomery County Courthouse, was unveiled in August 2009.
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Perched on the 94th floor of John Hancock Center is 360 Chicago. The observatory, 1,000 feet above The Magnificent Mile, gives visitors the chance to see four states — Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin — and as far away as 55 miles. On a clear day, anyway. The John Hancock Center is the fourth-tallest building in the city and the seventh-tallest nationwide. To reach the top, guests board elevators that travel 1,800 feet per minute, completing the trip to the 94th floor in a mere 40 seconds.
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For more than a decade, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum has provided visitors with a unique insight into the nation’s 16th president. The museum is home to an incredible collection of artifacts, books and documents that help tell the story of the man who presided over the country during one of the most difficult times. The library is not part of the National Archives and Records Administration’s network of presidential libraries. It is administered by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.
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Agora is an art installation of 106 headless and armless iron sculptures. Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz designed the installation, which is located at the south end of Grant Park. In 2006, the Chicago Park District brought the work to Chicago as a permanent loan from the Polish Ministry of Culture. While similar installations have been constructed worldwide, Agora is among the largest.
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Founded in 1879 and located in Chicago’s Grant Park, the Art Institute of Chicago is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the country. It is home to more than 300,000 works of art, including a range of iconic and instantly recognizable works of art. Among the works in the museum’s vast collection are Georges Seurat’s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884, Pablo Picasso’s The Old Guitarist and Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks. Roughly 1.5 million people visit the museum every year. The museum is located in a building built in 1893 for the World’s Columbian Exposition.
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The Field Museum of Natural History is one of the largest natural history museums in the world. Known colloquially as The Field Museum, the museum is home to more than 24 million specimens and objects, including gems, meteorites, fossils and cultural artifacts from around the globe. More than 2 million people visit the museum every year. Among the most famous items in the collection are Sue, the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton currently known, and the infamous Lions of Tsavo.
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The Illinois State Museum in Springfield, Illinois, is the state’s official museum of the natural history. Founded in 1877, the museum was originally located inside the sixth Illinois State Capitol but moved as the state government expanded. Between 1961 and 1963, the state built the museum’s current building, the first purpose-built state museum. Exhibits include local fossils, dioramas of Native American life, a collection of glass paperweights and archaeological and ethnographic artifacts.
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Abraham Lincoln went to the Great Western Railroad depot on the morning of Feb. 11, 1861, to begin his inaugural journey to Washington D.C. Lincoln and his eldest son, Robert, planned to leave on the 8 a.m. train, while the rest of his family would follow later that day. Lincoln gave a short speech to the group of friends and family who came to see him off. Today, the privately owned depot features Lincoln-related exhibits.
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President Richard Nixon authorized the Lincoln Home National Historic Site Aug. 18, 1971. The park was formally established on Oct. 9, 1972, to preserve and protect the only home ever owned by President Abraham Lincoln. In total, the park’s buildings make up four-and-a-half square blocks on 12 acres. Among the buildings is the home where the 16th president of the United States lived from 1844 to 1861.
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The water was vital to Chicago’s growth and success as a city, and nowhere is that more apparent than at the McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum. The five-story museum is located in the southwest bridge house of the DuSable Bridge, better known as the Michigan Avenue Bridge. The museum includes exhibits on the history of the Chicago River and the bridge, and visitors can access the bridge’s gear room.
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