Lincoln Home Site, Lyon House, Eighth Street between Jackson Street & Capitol Avenue, Springfield, Sangamon County, IL

Significance: The Lyon House stands on property which Abraham Lincoln had bought in 1838. On March 2, 1853, Alexander Graham purchased from Lincoln the unimproved land, consisting of lot 13 and the north half of lot 12, block 7. This property was located on the west side of Eighth Street. Alexander Graham was a carpenter by trade and probably constructed his own house on the land between 1853 and 1854. Graham resided there until he sold the property in 1857. From 1857 to 1864, Henson Lyon owned the house and lived there with his family. Lyon was a farmer who owned 200 acres of farmland east of Springfield. In 1868, after Lyon's death, Samuel and Augusta Rosenwald purchased the property. The Rosenwald family owned the house until 1886. One of the five Rosenwald children who grew up in the house, Julius Rosenwald, later became a leader and principle organizer of the Sears and Roebuck Company, as well as a noted philanthropist.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: FN-161
Survey number: HABS IL-1123-I
Building/structure dates: ca. 1854 Initial Construction
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 71000076