Where was Abe Lincoln's summer home? Hint: it wasn't in the Hamptons

Filed under: North America, United StatesKennedy had Hyannisport. Bush 41 summered in Kennebunkport, Maine. Bush 43 favored his ranch in Crawford, Texas. Nixon loved his La Casa Pacifica Mansion in San Clemente, California. The Clintons had Martha's Vineyard until Dick Morris, their pollster, told them it was too posh. A variety of presidents used Camp David to unwind. The Obama's favor Hawaii. But what about Abe Lincoln? What did the man that most historians consider America's greatest president do for vacation?

Perched on a hill in a gritty, working class neighborhood of Washington D.C., around the corner from stores with heavily fortified protective grills and an Eritrean Orthodox Church, sits one of the city's most compelling, yet off-the-beaten-track tourist destinations. The Hamptons it is not. It's the Soldiers' Home, which served as the Lincoln family's seasonal "cottage" retreat from 1862-4.

The Lincoln family moved into the Victorian style cottage 150 years ago shortly after the death of their eleven-year-old son Willie, who probably drank contaminated water from the Potomac and caught typhoid fever, one of the great scourges of the era. Like any grieving family, the Lincolns needed a change of scenery -- someplace quiet, away from the bustle, foul air and contagious diseases that plagued crowded D.C.

The family moved into the Soldiers' Home, a house that was built in 1842 for the Washington banking tycoon who founded Riggs Bank. The house is on the grounds of America's first home for retired and disabled, enlisted veterans. When Lincoln moved in there were a few hundred veterans living on the grounds and there were also Union soldiers camping out in tents on the premises. Veterans still live on the grounds today.

Every morning from April or May through November, Lincoln would make the three-mile, 30-minute commute down the hill into D.C. on horseback. His advisors wanted him to make the trip with a cavalry security entourage, but Abe preferred to leave before they arrived, so he could go alone, stopping on the way to chat with soldiers and freed slaves who gave him a real picture of what life was like for ordinary people during the war. Last year, museum staff tried to reenact his horse ride and it took two hours due to traffic and lights.

Continue reading Where was Abe Lincoln's summer home? Hint: it wasn't in the HamptonsWhere was Abe Lincoln's summer home? Hint: it wasn't in the Hamptons originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 23 Mar 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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