Lincoln at Kalamazoo

Lincoln at Kalamazoo is a Michigan historical marker in Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo County, dedicated 1957.

Bronson Park, Kalamazoo

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On August 27, 1856, here in this park, Abraham Lincoln, then an obscure lawyer, spoke to a rally for John Fremont, the Republican presidential nominee. This was the only time that Lincoln addressed a Michigan audience. The event was almost unnoticed in the press. Some Republicans felt the speaker was too moderate on the antislavery issue. Four years later Michigan’s vote helped put Lincoln into the White House.

TodayHistorical map

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University Library, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Historical maps covering this location

1849 · Illinois (Mitchell/Cowperthwait, 1849) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1853 · Map of the surveyed part of Michigan (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1854 · A map of the surveyed part of Michigan / by John Farmer ; engraved by S. Stiles & Co. (University Library, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
1855 · The Western Tourist And Emigrant's Guide (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1873 · Michigan. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Map of the surveyed part of Michigan, 1853, covering the location of Lincoln at Kalamazoo, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Map of the surveyed part of Michigan, 1853, covering this location. Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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Marker data: Michigan History Center
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