This monument recalls an 1853 visit by the future President, who merrily christened the newly named town with melon juice. In 2001 and for several years after, there was talk of erecting a 300-ft. tall Lincoln in Lincoln, at an estimated cost of $40 million, to stand in front of a 10-story tall barrel supporting a watermelon. That mega-project went nowhere, but this life-size Lincoln Watermelon Monument remains.
