Over the past 10 years, the Center has investigated a number of archaeological sites associated with Abraham Lincoln and his neighbors during the 1830s. Robert Mazrim has directed four seasons of archaeology at Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site, which included the discovery of the remains of the original Rutledge Tavern, as well as a site now understood to be Lincoln's first property.
Our work has also included the discovery and replatting of the extinct village of Sangamo Town. Here was uncovered the remains of the “Carmen Tavern” where Lincoln boarded in the spring of 1831. We have also examined the home of Reverend John Berry, father of Lincoln’s business partner William; the site of “Pappsville”, a warehouse and store where Lincoln gave his first stump speech; the home of James Rutledge, where Ann Rutledge died in 1835; and the site of the town of Huron, surveyed by Lincoln in 1836.
The findings from several of these sites are featured in Mazrim’s 2007 book The Sangamo Frontier (University of Chicago Press). The recent testing at Lincoln’s property at New Salem is featured in the 90-minute dvd documentary,
