GOING PLACES : Remembering Abe

WITH PRESIDENTS’ DAY upon us, it’s nice to remember. . . . Two score and 19 years ago, our Southern California forefathers erected a shrine dedicated to Abraham Lincoln--the only such honor west of the Mississippi. Now the beautiful marble-walled octagon houses an impressive library of books, some extremely rare, covering such subjects as the Civil War, Lincoln’s life and his assassination. On the dark-walnut shelves and in the glass cases rest such curiosities as an original copy of the April 15, 1865, New York Herald, its headline blaring the news of Lincoln’s murder; his Amnesty Proclamation, dated Dec. 9, 1863; a strand of his hair, and a Bible autographed by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. Overhead is the shrine’s crowning touch, the Dean Cornwell classical-style ceiling murals, which depict the attributes of Lincoln’s personality that led to his timeless successes as President.

Lincoln Memorial Shrine, 125 W. Vine St., Redlands; (714) 798-7632.