Historic Lexington landmark gets nod from Southern Living as a top place to visit
Southern Living has recognized the Lexington childhood home of an often misunderstood, yet politically savvy and personally resilient first lady.
In its list of the top spots in the South to experience the lives of legendary women, the popular publication described the Mary Todd Lincoln House as “the perfect excuse to plan a long weekend in Lexington.”
Southern Living included the house alongside the homes of other notable women, such as Hollywood icon Ava Gardner and Jazz age muse Zelda Fitzgerald.
“We’re thrilled to get a shout out from Southern Living,” Gwen Thompson, executive director of the Mary Todd Lincoln House, told the Herald-Leader in an email.
“We hope it inspires some readers to learn more about Mary Todd Lincoln by visiting us at her childhood home in the heart of downtown Lexington or by exploring our website,” Thompson said.
Mary Todd Lincoln’s childhood home has gone through several transformations since her family’s time there in the first few decades of the 1800s. After the Todds moved out, it became a boarding house, grocery store and even a brothel at one point.
By the 1950s, the house was in poor condition and was being used as a storage unit. In 1977, it was restored and opened to the public as a museum thanks to the efforts of Beula C. Nunn.
Why the Mary Todd Lincoln House is worth visiting
Southern Living describes the Mary Todd Lincoln House as a place that’s easy to fit in between restaurants and other things to see and do in downtown Lexington.
Visitors can tour the house and learn about her two families, the Lincolns and the Todds. But the house is perhaps most worth visiting for accessing the complicated character of Mary Todd Lincoln.
Born into a privileged family that held several people as slaves, many of Mary Todd Lincoln’s siblings went on to fight for the Confederacy, while others supported the Union. She married Abraham Lincoln and supported the Union cause, but the Todd family’s divided loyalties were always the subject of press scrutiny and controversy.
Her own attitudes on slavery are harder to pin down. According to the Mary Todd Lincoln House, there are family stories that suggest she recognized the evils of slavery as a young woman, but also did not view Black and white people as equals.
In adulthood, she formed a close friendship with Elizabeth Keckley, an African American writer and activist who also worked as Todd Lincoln’s dressmaker. Mary Todd Lincoln was a major supporter of Keckley’s Contraband Relief Association, which collected shoes, clothing and other essentials for refugees fleeing slavery.
Contemporary, radical abolitionist Jane Swisshelm described Mary Todd Lincoln as “more radically opposed to slavery” than the president when the two met in 1863.
As a young woman, she was one of the best-educated in her generation, benefiting from years of formal schooling in Lexington, where she learned French, reading, writing and arithmetic. It was an interest in politics that initially drew her to Abraham Lincoln, however, and Mary Todd supported his rise by hosting events and offering advice.
Mary Todd Lincoln was the first presidential spouse to be widely referred to as the “first lady,” and became a prominent public figure in her own right.
As first lady, she took on the role of refurbishing the then-dilapidated White House and entertained thousands of visitors at regular events. Critics often condemned her lavish spending, however, including during wartime.
Mary Todd Lincoln is also notable in her grief. Even beyond her husband’s assassination, three of her four sons died of various diseases and illnesses. For several months, she was confined against her will at an asylum in Batavia, Illinois, under the pressure of her only surviving son, Robert. She lived independently in Europe for several years following her confinement there, but illness prompted her to return to the U.S.
She died in July of 1882 at her sister’s home, where she’d married Lincoln almost 40 years earlier, according to the Mary Todd Lincoln House.
For those hoping to visit the downtown home, tours range from $6 to $20 and can be booked online. The home is located at 578 West Main St. in Lexington.
The Mary Todd Lincoln House mention is just the latest in a string of accolades for Lexington from Southern Living, which also named the city one of the South’s best cities for 2025.
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