Illinois' Lincoln Home wants to expand vast archives

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Officials at the Lincoln Home Historic Site in Springfield say they're running out of room to house thousands of artifacts and documents.

Administrators say they'll ask the federal government for $4.5 million to build a territorial archives center. The State Journal-Register reports that it would house more than 324,000 documents and artifacts, including 7,000 pieces from the Lincoln era.

Another 100,000 documents from the Lincoln home and other pieces are housed at the Midwest Archeological Center in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Site Superintendent Dale Phillips says the park is out of space after more than four decades of storing U.S. Park Service documents and Lincoln artifacts.

Officials warned that they would have to compete for the money with other park system projects.