Statue of Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln Square, Manchester

The statue of US president Abraham Lincoln is located in Lincoln Square, on Brazennose Street (which runs between Deansgate and Albert Square in Manchester City Centre). The statue was designed by American sculptor George Grey Barnard. It is identical to the one located in Lytle Park in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.

The statue was presented to Manchester to mark the support that the people of Manchester gave to President Lincoln in the fight for the abolition of slavery during the American Civil War (1861–1865).  At the time Manchester's economy was highly reliant on cotton, much of which came from the southern states in America. The people of Manchester and the surrounding area suffered horrendously when supplies of cotton were interrupted as a result of the Civil War. Lincoln's government actually sent food aid to help relieve the famine conditions that had been created. Despite the hardships created by the Civil War, at a meeting of cotton workers in Manchester in 1862, it was resolved to support the Union in their fight against slavery.

The original statue was completed in 1916 and exhibited in New York. This particular statue was presented to Manchester by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Phelps Taft of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1919 and was originally located in Platt Fields Park. It was moved to Lincoln Square in 1986.