SPRINGFIELD - Among the more well-known fare at Springfield's Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is a small nook filled with children's toys, including Civil War period clothing kids can wear for photos. | Video

It was there stopping on a trip from Genoa, Wis., to Gulf Shores, Ala., that full-grown Betty Denison and Judy Jambois had much of their fun.

"We played dress-up," Denison said.

That child-like fascination with history is the reaction directors want from museum visitors more than two years after it opened.

Lincoln's would-be 200th birthday comes next year - he turns 199 on Tuesday. So, the 16th president is assured some extra attention in the coming year, with the Springfield museum perhaps at the center of it.

Lincoln spent his adult years here as a lawyer and lawmaker, and later left town for the White House from a train depot blocks from the museum.

That scene and others are portrayed in life-like detail within the museum, a fact that can irk purists and draw criticism over its Disneyworld-style effects.

But museum leaders say that very approach is largely why 1.4 million visitors have come through the doors since it opened.

"There was immediate acceptance," said Illinois State Historian Thomas Schwartz.

The museum tries to give visitors a full view of Lincoln's life through two series of exhibits and two special-effects laden presentations.

The first exhibit allows museum-goers to walk through the log-cabin of Lincoln's youth, complete with a realistic statue of the young boy.

A 'disturbing' first exhibit

But after coming out of the cabin, a more disturbing realism of the time comes into full view.

A life-size scene of a slave auction where a family is being torn apart is lit by red light, showing a stark contradiction from the peaceful cabin to the tragic auction block.

"It's disturbing," said Sharon Rapacz of Springfield on her first visit. "But I think it's realistic."

Further scenes and original, rare artifacts throughout the museum show the several aspects of Lincoln's life.

One life-sized scene shows pistol-wielding assassin John Wilkes Booth creeping into the theater box where Lincoln and his wife are cuddling.

In another, a faux-television production studio shows news coverage of the 1860 as if it was happening in a modern day TV studio. It's anchored by "Meet the Press" host Tim Russert.

Museum officials estimate 1.4 million people have entered the museum since President Bush attended its opening in April 2005.

Now, for Lincoln's 200th birthday next year, the museum is developing mobile displays that can travel to museums across the country. There won't necessarily be huge fanfare in Springfield for the 199th on Feb. 12, said museum Executive Director Rick Beard.

"We're about Abraham Lincoln every year, every day of the year," he said.

So the challenge is to get visitors to return regularly to a museum that doesn't have plan to change much soon.

One idea is special exhibits, including one on presidential campaigns that runs through Election Day in November.

Beard says his hope isn't necessarily that returning patrons learn something new on repeat trips.

"It's an experience that's largely emotional," he said.

State Historian Schwartz said that in a gift shop containing everything from obligatory shot glasses to a $6,000, hand-crafted replica bed, the most popular items sold are the books.

The goal of the museum, he says, is to inspire curiosity, not necessarily quench it.

"That's what we want," Schwartz said. "We want people to have these questions and engage them."

On her trip from Wisconsin, Jambois said she was interested to learn that the famous Emancipation Proclamation was a controversial document that didn't necessarily free all the slaves.

"That was kind of awakening," she said. "I think I'd pick up a book now."

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Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum

212 N. Sixth Street in Springfield

(800) 610-2094

www.alplm.org

Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

Admission: Adults age 16 to 61: $7.50; Seniors, students and uniformed military: $5.50; Children: $3.50; Children under 5 are free; Rates are scheduled to go up March 1.

Parking is available off 6th Street between Madison and Mason streets.