"The Old Log Court House Where Abraham Lincoln Practiced Law," Decatur, Illinois, 1943 Postcard

By the early 20th century, the real Abraham Lincoln had long since faded from people's memory. A new generation of Americans had come of age who only knew the stories, the myths, the legends. This generation transformed Lincoln the man into Lincoln the hero. Local residents of Decatur, Illinois, saved and preserved their old log courthouse where Lincoln once practiced law.