Giant Abraham Lincoln

In the mid 1800’s, when a young Abraham Lincoln was working chopping and splitting logs for the Frontier Fencing Company, would he have ever thought, in his wildest dreams that this moment would one day be immortalized in a giant 30-foot-tall fiberglass sculpture at The Illinois State Fairgrounds …. oh, and that one day he would grow a beard … and become president.

Lincoln's youthful employment with an axe earned him the nickname “the Rail Splitter”, and this nickname was Widey used in his 1860 presidential campaign.

Fast forward to 1967 when folk artist Carl Rinnus decided to immortalize "The Rail Splitter" in fiberglass, and in epic proportions.

The giant Abraham Lincoln sits at the Main Gate of the Illinois State Fairgrounds. He is made from a welded frame covered in chicken wire and fiberglass. His (very long) pants legs were slipped over two telephone poles.

If you love Muffler Men (and who doesn't), you won’t want to miss their odd cousin, giant Abraham Lincoln.

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Mid-West USA no. 18 -last visited October 2024