Redlands Museum Hides a Lincoln Treasure Few Californians Know Exists

Behind the historic A.K. Smiley Public Library in Redlands sits a small octagonal building most Southern Californians drive past without a second glance. Inside, a Carrara marble bust of Abraham Lincoln gazes out over a room lined with Civil War manuscripts, muraled ceilings, and one of the only two identical copies of that statue anywhere in the world — and the shrine that houses them is the only institution in the entire western United States devoted to the 16th president. According to the National Park Service, the A.K. Smiley Public Library was designed in Moorish style in 1898 by architect T.R. Griffith of Redlands. According to the California State Portal, Albert K. Smiley donated the library building and park to Redlands residents in 1898, and the property is listed under National Register number 94001487.

The building traces back to Robert Watchorn, according to CBS Los Angeles. Watchorn built the small octagon structure specifically to house his Carrara marble Lincoln bust, and the Watchorn family formally dedicated the building and its collection to the shrine in 1932. The bust itself has a strange twist tied to its history: an identical copy once existed in Luxembourg but disappeared during World War II, leaving Redlands with the only surviving version of the statue in the world.

A Museum Born From Grief and Immigration

The shrine's own history, corroborated by the Los Angeles Times, connects the Watchorn family's dedication of the shrine to the loss of its only child.

Today the shrine is run by the public library, and its collection includes 39 Lincoln manuscripts alongside broader Civil War artifacts.

Slavery in America Wing Confronts the War's Human Cost

The shrine expanded its Slavery in America wing in the 1990s, a gallery that displays trading cards, hiring agreements, and other historical relics documenting the institution Lincoln fought to end. Museum director Don McCue, quoted by CBS Los Angeles, said understanding all the details of American history can help prevent repeating it — a framing the museum applies directly to that wing's unflinching material.

The shrine's archival holdings include Lincoln manuscripts.

According to the California State Library's 2024 annual report, the library will prepare and begin digitizing three historically significant collections, placing the shrine's preservation mission within a broader statewide effort to expand access to archival materials. The California State Library also describes a digitization center dedicated to preserving and sharing collections hidden throughout California state government, reflecting a broader California trend toward making archival materials more accessible. According to the California State Library’s 2021 annual report, California made its largest single investment in local libraries in 2021, totaling more than $430 million. The California State Library says its California Collection provides access to over 860 digitized California newspapers from 1848–2020, illustrating the broader push to make the state’s historical materials available online.

From Rockwell to Reenactments, California's Unlikely Civil War Ties

The museum also holds Norman Rockwell's 1945 painting The Long Shadow of Lincoln, commissioned for the Saturday Evening Post, a work McCue has connected to a broader wartime moment — noting that people were still seeking inspiration from Lincoln during World War II, per CBS Los Angeles. California's own Civil War connection, though often overlooked, runs deeper than many locals realize: the state participated in the war, and between 500 and 1,000 California men are believed to have fought in the conflict in the eastern United States. California gold is also credited with giving both the Confederate Army and Lincoln's Union effort a push that helped shape the war's outcome.

Outside, the grounds feature limestone patio walls and fountains designed in 1937 by sculptor Merrell Gage, along with a reproduction 1857 Napoleon 12-pounder field cannon installed in 2021. The shrine holds a cannon reenactment every year, a tradition that draws crowds to the otherwise quiet grounds tucked in Smiley Park. The building itself is a small octagon.

A Landmark That Keeps Growing

The original one-room octagon was later enlarged, and after four and a half years of community fundraising, the shrine rededicated an expanded facility on February 12, 1998, adding two new wings to the 1932 structure. The expansion fulfilled the plan for an enlarged facility. The shrine is the only institution in the western United States devoted to Abraham Lincoln.