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Harney Statue in Pontiac, Illinois

Stop by downtown Pontiac to see this Lincoln statue on the grounds of the beautifully restored Livingston County Courthouse. You'll find the town about 40 miles northwest of Bloomington off Interstate 55.

The full-size bronze work recalls Lincoln's first visit there in 1840 as a 31-year-old lawyer. At the time he was a law partner with John Todd Stuart in Springfield, but also traveled to county circuit courts throughout central Illinois. The courthouses he visited in Pontiac no longer stand; the present structure opened 10 years after his death.

This pose shows Lincoln leaning against a split-rail fence, symbolic of his frontier upbringing before becoming a self-taught lawyer. The statue unveiling on June 23, 2006 attracted a crowd of hundreds. Sculptor Rick Harney also created the Lincoln statue beside the McLean County Historical Museum of History in Bloomington.

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