Mary Todd Lincoln House in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

, USA, was the girlhood home of

Mary Todd Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also cal ...

, the future

first lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

and wife of the 16th President,

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 ...

. Today the fourteen-room house is a museum containing period furniture, portraits, and artifacts from the Todd and Lincoln families. The museum introduces visitors to the complex life of Mary Todd Lincoln, from her refined upbringing in a wealthy, slave-holding family to her reclusive years as a mourning widow. The house was built c. 1803–1806 as an

inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...

and

tavern A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that h ...

, which was called "The Sign of the Green Tree" before its purchased by Mary's father,

Robert Smith Todd Robert Smith Todd (February 25, 1791 – July 17, 1849) was an American lawyer, soldier, banker, businessman and politician who was the father of First Lady of the United States, First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln. Early life Todd was born on ...

, for the Todd family. The family moved into the three-story home in 1832. Mary Todd lived in this home until 1839, when she moved to Springfield, Illinois. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln visited her family here.

Historic status

The Mary Todd Lincoln house has the distinction of being the first historic site restored in honor of a First Lady. Operated by the Kentucky Mansions Preservation Foundation, Inc., the house museum was opened to the public on June 9, 1977.

Museum

In the mid-1970s, Beula C. Nunn, wife of Governor

Louie B. Nunn Louie Broady Nunn (March 8, 1924 – January 29, 2004) was an American politician who served as the 52nd governor of Kentucky. Elected in 1967, he was the only Republican to hold the office between the end of Simeon Willis's term in 1947 and ...

, along with the Kentucky Mansions Preservation Foundation, Inc., and the Metropolitan Women's Club of Lexington, gained support to preserve and restore the Mary Todd Lincoln House. In June 1996, the Beula C. Nunn Garden at the Mary Todd Lincoln House was dedicated and opened to the public. Today the enclosed gardens contain trees, plants, herbs and shrubs that represent what may have been in the gardens at the Todd home in the early nineteenth century. The property is open to the public as a

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a ...

Unusual history

Belle Brezing was a working girl in a bawdy house, run by Jenny Hill, located in this building starting in 1879. Later she became a

madam Madam (), or madame ( or ), is a polite and formal form of address for Woman, women in the English language, often contracted to ma'am (pronounced in American English and this way but also in British English). The term derives from the French ...

in her own right, with her own brothel. Brezing is widely credited as having inspired

Margaret Mitchell Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell (November 8, 1900 – August 16, 1949) was an American novelist and journalist. Mitchell wrote only one novel, published during her lifetime, the American Civil War-era novel '' Gone with the Wind'', for which she wo ...

's character of Belle Watling in her novel, ''

Gone With The Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind may also refer to: Music * ''Gone with the Wind'' ...

'' (1936).

References

External links

*
National Park Service Page on the House
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lincoln House, Mary Todd 1800s architecture in the United States Abraham Lincoln Biographical museums in Kentucky Brothels in the United States Historic house museums in Kentucky Houses completed in 1832 Houses in Lexington, Kentucky Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky Lexington in the American Civil War Museums in Lexington, Kentucky National Register of Historic Places in Lexington, Kentucky Women's museums in Kentucky

Historic status

Museum

Unusual history

See also

References

External links