A side, exterior view of Forest Home showing restoration work on the port cochere

Description:	This color photograph shows restoration work underway on the porte cochere at Forest Home, the former residence of Butler University founder Ovid Butler. Around 1891 the house was sold to John M. Shaw who made several changes including adding the former Bates House porte cochere to the west side of the house. Built in 1853, the Bates House was a hotel was located at the northwest corner of Illinois and Washington Streets in Indianapolis. Shaw obtained the porte cochere when the hotel was demolished in 1901. Indianapolis legend states that the porte cochere was the site of one of Abraham Lincolns earliest speeches promoting the preservation of the Union. Lincoln did visit Indianapolis on February 11, 1861, while on his way to his presidential inauguration in Washington D.C. and he did make speeches promoting the continued unification of the country. However, contemporary newspaper accounts state that his first speech was made at his train stop, near what is now the intersection of Washington and Missouri Streets. The gathered crowd was estimated to have been anywhere from 10,000 to 50,000 people at a time when the entire population of Indianapolis consisted of only 18,611 people (per the 1860 U.S. Census). Later that day, Lincoln did address the public from a balcony at the Bates House Hotel where he repeated his desire to preserve the Union, but the speech was given from a balcony on the Washington Street side of the building. After spending the night at the hotel, Lincoln made another short speech from one of the hotels balconies before reboarding the train to continue his journey. However, neither of the speeches that Lincoln made at Bates House were given from the porte cochere that is now a part of Forest Home. In fact, this specific porte cochere was added to the Illinois Street side of the hotel sometime between 1885 and 1901, more than 20 years after Lincolns visit to Indianapolis.
Origin:	2010-08-21
Created By:	Childs-Helton, Sally Carr, 1953-
Source:	http://palni.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/BldgsGrnds/id/221
Collection:	Butler University Buildings and Grounds Collection
Rights:	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/
Copyright:	In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Geography:	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Subjects:	Butler, Ovid, 1801-1881--Homes and haunts Butler, Scot, 1844-1931--Homes and haunts Brick houses--19th century Dwellings--19th century Architecture, Domestic Shaw, John M., 1852-1925--Homes and haunts Houses Residences

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