In 1887, Robert Todd Lincoln transferred his family’s Springfield home to the State of Illinois, ensuring that the house where Abraham Lincoln and his family had lived for 17 years would be preserved for the future. Robert’s deed imposed two important conditions: the homestead had to be forever kept in good repair and should remain open to the public without an admission charge. Today, the same house is the centrepiece of Lincoln Home National Historic Site, which preserves the Lincoln residence and 14 other houses from the Lincoln-era neighbourhood in Springfield.
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