The Wigwam, Chicago.

There is a third building that should stand on the street, which led from Abraham Lincoln's Kentucky Log Cabin to the White House. Lincoln was obliged to pass this building before he reached Washington D.C. The building was built in 1860, at the corner of Market Street (North Wacker Drive today) and Lake Street in Chicago, a large structure one hundred and eighty feet long and one hundred feet wide. 

It was made of plain pine boards, and in some respects, both the characteristics of a log cabin and a government building were conserved. It was called the "Wigwam," which was built on the site of the old Sauganash Hotel.

On the morning of May 16, 1860, the delegates of the Republican Convention arrived for the purpose of naming the next candidate for the Presidency of the United States on the Republican ticket. It was on Friday, March 18, that this purpose was achieved. It may be truly said that Lincoln passed from his Cabin to the White House by way of the Wigwam. 

The History of Chicago's "Wigwam" Buildings.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.