his Farewell Address to his fellow Springfield citizens. On a dark, gloomy morning in 1861, citizens of Springfield assembled at the station to see Lincoln off. The office was used as a reception room, and his friends and neighbors filed past, taking his hand. As the train pulled in, he mounted the rear platform. Before his journey to Washington D.C., he delivered an impromptu and emotional farewell address. A video, narrated by Scott Simon, is shown on the second floor. It describes Lincoln's 12-day journey to Washington. On the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth in 1956, the Depot was used as a backdrop for a reenactment of Lincoln's farewell to Springfield. Lincoln was portrayed by G. William Horsley of Springfield. The speech was recalled by Lincoln's Washington DC pastor at his funeral on April 19, 1865: "I speak what I know, and testify what I have often heard him say, when I affirm that that guidance and mercy were the props on which he humbly and habitually leaned; they were the best hope he had for himself and for his country. Hence, when he was leaving his home in Illinois, and coming to this city to take his seat in the executive chair of a disturbed and troubled nation, he said to the old and tried friends who gathered tearfully around him and bade him farewell, "I leave you with this request: pray for me." They did pray for him; and millions of other people prayed for him; nor did they pray in vain. Their prayer was heard, and the answer appears in all his subsequent history; it shines forth with a heavenly radiance in the whole course and tenor of his administration, from its commencement to its close. God raised him up for a great and glorious mission, furnished him for his work, and aided him in its accomplishment." Historic Site A historical marker was erected at the station in 1966. It is located at the intersection of Monroe Street and 10th Street. It reads: "From this building on February 11, 1861 Abraham Lincoln departed Springfield, Illinois to assume the Presidency of the United States. After bidding farewell to a number of friends, he delivered a brief, spontaneous and moving farewell address to the crowd, estimated at 1,000, from the rear platform of the train." Marker series. This marker is included in the Lincoln 1861 Inaugural Train Stops marker