The Fithian House is a historic house located at 116 N. Gilbert St. in Danville, Vermilion County

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. The Italianate house was built in 1855 for William Fithian. Fithian was a physician and a politician who served in the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

and

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state, State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adop ...

. In addition, Fithian donated land for and was the namesake of

Fithian, Illinois Fithian is a village in Oakwood Township, Vermilion County, Illinois, United States. It is part of the Danville, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 485 at the 2010 census. History The town was named after Dr. William ...

, a Vermilion County village located west of Danville.

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

was a close friend of Fithian's, and while visiting Danville during his 1858 senatorial campaign, he stayed in the house and gave a speech from its second-floor balcony. The house is now part of the Vermilion County Museum, a history museum which exhibits both the house's period interior and displays on local history and historical figures in a separate building. The house was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on May 1, 1975.

References

External links

Vermilion County Museum
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois Houses completed in 1855 Houses in Vermilion County, Illinois Museums in Vermilion County, Illinois Historic house museums in Illinois Italianate architecture in Illinois Buildings and structures in Danville, Illinois National Register of Historic Places in Vermilion County, Illinois {{VermilionCountyIL-NRHP-stub