Lincoln statue committee members being sought

By Editor | January 15, 2026 |

By Carmen Ensinger

Winchester Mayor Rex McIntire is looking for residents who are interested in being on a committee to help find a nice Lincoln statue to sit, or stand, alongside Stephen Douglas, on the square.
“I would like to get a committee going and I would like it to be a mix of council members and members of the general public and get their incite as to what we want,” McIntire said during the Jan. 7 monthly meeting. “I want it to be something that befits the city of Winchester.”
McIntire has been on a quest to find a statue for the park for at least the last four years and several fund-raisers have been held in that time.
“I don’t know if people really understand how much having that statue in our park will benefit the businesses of Winchester,” he said. “It is going to bring in tourism because people are going to come in to see the statues. We have signs on either end of town as well as signs on the interstate and Lincoln is a big deal. There are people who travel specifically to see just the Lincoln sites and where he might have spoke or spent the night.”
In case you aren’t familiar with Lincoln’s association with Winchester, Lincoln came to Winchester on Aug. 26, 1854. From the steps of the Scott County Courthouse, Lincoln delivered his first major speech against Stephen A. Douglas’ Kansas-Nebraska Act, which allowed slavery to expand into new territories.
This speech would ultimately lead to the revitalization of Lincoln’s political career and lead to what would become known as the Lincoln-Douglas Debates.to give a notable anti-slavery speech challenging Stephen A. Douglas’ Kansas-Nebraska Act.
Lincoln returned again on Sept. 30, 1858 during the Lincoln-Douglas Debate era and signed an autograph book for Linnie Haggard.
These are facts not taught in history books.
“I didn’t know Lincoln spoke here until I became Mayor and I don’t think a lot of people realize he was ever here either,” McIntire said. “I guess we all just take Lincoln for granted because he came from Illinois, but when you stop to realize that our 16th President and the man responsible for ending slavery was in our town, not once, but twice, and actually gave a speech that changed the course of history, I think it deserves to be recognized.”
There has currently been around $14,000 raised for the purchase of a Lincoln statue and while that might sound like a lot, for what McIntire wants, or what we could say what he doesn’t want, that isn’t a lot.
“The one thing that I really, really want, is for this statue to be made in America,” he said. “I know we could get a really cheap one made somewhere else, but I would prefer it if it was made right here in the good old U.S. of A. I’m hoping that isn’t just a pipe dream.”
One thing that he would like to see accomplished is the statue erected in time for our nation’s 250th birthday, which celebrates the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, set to take place on July 4 of this year.