It just makes cents...

Photo courtesy the U.S. Mint

As many of you have figured out by now, we are log cabin lovers. We love preserving them, we love showing them off, we love rebuilding them, we love teaching about them...and we love seeing artistic renditions of them...especially when these art pieces fit in your pocket.

Now before you think that I'm completely crazy (about cabins), let me explain. The year 2009 marks Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday. To celebrate, the U.S. Mint is releasing a series of pennies to commemorate Lincoln's life, beginning with a log cabin penny representing his childhood.

Given the down state of the economy, however, the new log cabin pennies have been circulating more slowly than usual. Although released in February, we just saw our first one today!

And boy did we (me) get excited! Thanks to Michael (one of our Village people) for showing it to us...and letting me keep it in my drawer for luck.

It seems like Log Cabin Village should have some sort of promotion to celebrate the log cabin penny. What do y'all think? Ideas? (sorry...you'll have to do better than suggesting "one penny" admission... :) )

Happy birthday, Abe!

Today is officially Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday! The National Museum of American History has a great blog post about it here...

For more information...

Happy birthday, dear Lincoln...

Abraham Lincoln is drawing a lot of attention this year, and rightfully so. In February, he will turn 200 (yet he doesn't look a day over 190...)! Must be the beard...

Anyhoo...there are a number of web sites and historical sites that are marking this event in exciting and dynamic ways. We wanted to highlight a few for you:

Gilder Lehrman Institute Lincoln site

FREE Lincoln paperback readers

Lincoln timeline

Library of Congress: Mr. Lincoln's Virtual Library

Illinois' Lincoln 200 site

C-SPAN's site

Lincoln Bicentennial Site

Don't forget...Barack Obama will be sworn in to the United States presidency on January 20, 2009, using the same Bible Lincoln used. What an amazing historical connection!

Lincoln-Douglas debates

More great information from the Gilder Lehrman Institute about the famous debates that shaped our modern style of debating!

Lincoln, Douglas, and Their Historic Debates

Long before television, the twenty-four-hour news cycle, and the sound bite, political debate was a vital part of civic life in this country. This week, the Gilder Lehrman Institute and the House Divided Project at Dickinson College look back at America's first great debates: the seven joint discussions between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas during the Illinois U.S. Senate campaign of 1858. Longtime rivals who would meet up again in the watershed presidential election of 1860, Lincoln and Douglas famously debated at length about the issues of the day, including slavery, economic development, and American expansion.

To take a closer look at each of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, click here: