President Abraham Lincoln's funeral procession on May 1, 1865, in Chicago, Illinois.

Lincoln's funeral procession passing under an ornamental arch at Grant Park on Michigan Boulevard (renamed Michigan Avenue in 1871) and 12th Street (renamed Roosevelt Road in 1919) in Chicago, Illinois. May 1, 1865 

The funeral and lying-in-state at the Old County Court House were scheduled from 5:00pm until the body was returned in procession to the train on the following morning for departure to Springfield at 9:30am. 

Cook County Court House (left) Facing North on Randolph Street, Chicago 1865.
Funeral of Abraham Lincoln; his body Lying-in-State in the Court House.

The lakeshore was only pilings at that time with no beach or sand and water came within 300 feet of Michigan Boulevard.

The train arrived at 11:00 am with a procession in the early afternoon. Rather than pull into the main depot, however, the train stopped on a trestle built a short distance into Lake Michigan.

Lincoln’s Funeral Parade. The procession is seen here proceeding east on Lake Street from the corner of Clark Street.

The officers wearing a sash are with the special military honor guard. The President's funeral car was named "The United States." It was newly built and delivered by the U.S. Military Railroad. 

The body of his youngest son "Willie" who had died in 1862 had been disinterred in Washington and was accompanying his father's body on the car to be buried during the same rites in Springfield. 

Guarding Lincoln’s Funeral Car on the Illinois Central tracks by Lake Michigan. The car was auctioned off to a private party but was destroyed by a fire in 1911.

The train remained still, with only its bell tolling its arrival.

The Funeral train stopped on a trestle that carried the tracks out into Lake Michigan in Chicago.

The triple memorial arch was designed, constructed, and decorated under the supervision of the well-known architect, W. W. Boyington.

Railroad equipment can be seen in the distance behind the cortege. The train had come through Indianapolis and then Michigan City, Indiana on the Chicago Indianapolis & Louisville Railroad, the "Monon" and was going to Springfield on the Illinois Central Railroad. The total route was 1654 miles retracing the route of his first journey from Springfield to Washington D.C. in 1861.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.