The Lincoln-Douglas Society of Freeport, Illinois

Public Works of Art

The following is a list of public works of art that the people of Freeport and Stephenson County exhibit to memorialize the 1858 Debate.

Debate Rock

  • 1902
  • Dedicated in 1903 by President Theodore Roosevelt
  • Location: Debate Square, 114 E. Douglas Street, Freeport
  • GPS Coordinates: N 42° 18.030 W 089° 37.189
  • Donated by Freeport Woman’s Club

Lincoln the Debater

  • 1929
  • Heroic-sized bronze sculpture
  • By Leonard Crunelle (1872-1944)
  • Location: Taylor Park – 900 E. Stephenson Street, Freeport
  • GPS Coordinates: N 42° 18.191′ W 089° 36.332′
  • Donated by W. T. Rawleigh

The Debate Mural

  • ca. 1958
  • 50” X 94” water color on wood
  • By Abraham “Buddy” Lenoir, Jr. (1932-2014)
  • Location: Lobby, United States Post Office, 103 N. Chicago Ave., Freeport

Lincoln-Douglas

The Freeport Doctrine

  • 1989
  • 4’ by 6’ oil on canvas
  • By Lily Tolpo (1917-2015)
  • Location: Library, Highland Community College, 2998 W. Pearl City Road, Freeport
  • GPS Coordinates: N 42° 28.1905800′ W 089° 66.8392400′
  • Donated by the Ferd & Eva Bauch Family

Debate Square

  • Dedicated 1992
  • Expanded 2008
  • Location: 114 E. Douglas Street, Freeport
  • GPS Coordinates: N 42° 18.030 W 089° 37.189
  • Owned by City of Freeport
  • Managed and maintained by the Lincoln-Douglas Society

Lincoln and Douglas in Debate

  • 1992
  • Life-sized bronze statues on a raised platform
  • By Lily Tolpo
  • Location: Debate Square, 114 E. Douglas Street, Freeport
  • These two statues were the first anywhere that posed Douglas and Lincoln in the same setting

Lincoln and Son Reading

  • 2011
  • Life-sized sculpture of Lincoln reading to one of his sons
  • By Lily Tolpo
  • Location: Freeport Public Library, 100 E. Douglas Street, Freeport – next to Debate Square
  • Funded by private subscriptions

Captain Lincoln: The Burial Detail

  • 2018
  • Life-sized statue of Lincoln when he participated in the burial detail for Illinois militiamen killed near Kent, Illinois, during the Black Hawk Conflict (1832)
  • By J. Ramon Castro
  • Location: Kent Monument, 14109 West Blackhawk Road, Kent, IL
  • GPS Coordinates: N 42° 17.815 W 089° 52.947
  • Funded by private subscriptions