30 acres in Illinois once owned by Lincoln head to auction

CHARLESTON, Ill. (AP) - A plot of Illinois farmland once owned by President Abraham Lincoln is heading to auction.

A retired farmer in the central Illinois city of Charleston is selling his family's 590-acre farm, which includes a 30-acre plot once owned by the nation's 16th president.

The retired farmer, Ron Best, tells the (Charleston) Times-Courier and Mattoon Journal-Gazette that he knows some people might think of the land's historical significance during Tuesday's auction.

He says the land has been farmed the entire time, adding: "It's not like Lincoln's stove pipe hat, that you can put on a shelf and say this was Lincoln's."

Lincoln bought 40 acres in 1841 from his cash-strapped father. Six acres became part of the current Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site. The remaining 34 acres were eventually sold.