Charleston commemorates our rich Lincoln history with a museum marking the debate site where Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas participated in the 1858 senatorial debate. The site of Lincoln's father and stepmother's farm is preserved 8 miles south of Charleston at Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic site. Many of Lincoln's nieces and nephews who lived on that farm, and at Goosenest Prairie, affectionately referred to him as "Uncle Abe."
In 1858, after the September 18th Charleston debate, historian Rae Katherine Eighmey writes of Lincoln's attendance on September 24th at a barbecue in Urbana, Illinois. Her book, "Abraham Lincoln in the Kitchen: A Culinary View of Lincoln's Life and Times" details the political campaign traditions of attending barbecues. We are blending that historic tradition and our own Lincoln history with a BBQ competition and celebration of street food on Charleston's historic downtown square on October 12, 2024.
Food trucks open at noon and close at 6 pm
Tastings for visitors start at noon
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