Ninian W. Edwards House

441 South Second Street
c. 1836

Photo courtesy of Richard E. Hart

This large, elegant two-story brick residence belonged to Ninian W. Edwards and reflected his prominence as a state politician and son of a late Governor of Illinois. Located on the “Aristocracy Hill” section of South Second Street, this house was a social center of Springfield’s antebellum elites. Ninian's wife was Elizabeth Todd; her sister, Mary Todd, lived here from 1839 to 1842. Mary courted and married Abraham Lincoln at this house and came here to die in 1882.

This house was razed in 1917 to make way for the Illinois Secretary of State's office.