First settled in the 1830s, it is the only town in the U.S. that was named for Abraham Lincoln before he became president; he practiced law there from 1847 to 1859.

It is also the home of the world's largest covered wagon and numerous other historical sites along the Route 66 corridor.

[3] The town's standard history holds that it was officially named on August 27, 1853, in an unusual ceremony.

There he invited Latham, Hickox, and Gillette, proprietors, to join him, saying, "Now we'll christen the new town," squeezing watermelon juice out on the ground.

[5][6] Despite that story, newspaper reports make it clear that the city's name of Lincoln had been chosen at least several weeks before the August 27 date.

[10] "The position is fine and commanding, and if it does not make a big city, we have no doubt it will soon arrive at the dignity of a flourishing and respectable town," the Illinois State Register wrote.

"We will also add that the town was named by the proprietors, of whom our enterprising citizen, Virgil Hickox, is one, in honor of A. Lincoln, esq., the attorney of the Chicago and Mississippi Railroad Company.

[11] The College had an excellent collection of Abraham Lincoln–related documents and artifacts, housed in a museum which was open to the general public before their closure.

The City of Lincoln features the stone, three-story, domed Logan County Courthouse (1905).

In addition, the Postville Courthouse State Historic Site contains a 1953 replica of the original 1840 Logan County courthouse; Postville, the original county seat, lost its status in 1848 and was itself annexed into Lincoln in the 1860s.

Founded in 1877, the institution was one of Logan County's largest employers[17] until closed in 2002 by then-Governor George Ryan due to concerns about patient maltreatment.

Despite efforts by some Illinois state legislators to reopen LDC, the facility remains shuttered.

[23][24] Lines of the Union Pacific and Canadian National railroads run through the city.

Salt Creek (Sangamon River Tributary) and the Edward R. Madigan State Fish and Wildlife Area are nearby.

[25] Since having an average record minimum of −11 °F (−24 °C) (-24 °C) according to XMACIS,[26] It lies in the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 5b.

The United States Postal Service operates the Lincoln Post Office.

[30] Cresco Labs opened their cultivation site there and has since replaced over 250 jobs lost when the bottle factory closed down.