Lincoln Whistle-Stop Remembrance A Success

PEEKSKILL, NY — Located by Peekskill Bay on the east bank of the Hudson River, the Lincoln Depot Museum is a 19th century freight and passenger rail depot where President-elect Abraham Lincoln stopped to greet New Yorkers on Feb. 19, 1861 during his inaugural train ride between Springfield, Illinois and Washington, DC.

Saturday was the Annual Lincoln Remembrance Day. Events sponsored by The Lincoln Society in Peekskill and the Lincoln Depot Museum were well attended and the weather was perfect.

The day started at the Lincoln Exedra.

The exedra was created in 1925 to commemorate Lincoln's stop. The land was donated by John Smith Jr., a veteran of the Civil War and a President of the Lincoln Society from 1917-1918. The center of the exedra contains a bronze portrait tablet of Lincoln that was created at the Tiffany Studios in New York City.

Afterward, the group marched to the Depot, and Lincoln's speech was re-enacted by Michael Macedonia as President-elect Lincoln.

Kirk Moldoff then presented a program on 19th Century Peekskill and its contributions and interconnections to important innovations and the fascinating people behind them.

Organizers offered a special thank you to Lincoln Society President Theresa Knickerbocker for her leadership in this year's events, to society members Robert McFarlane and Mark Aarons for making important contributions to the events at the depot, and to Alyssa Martin for her musical contribution.