Abraham Lincoln's new beard had filled in pretty well by the time he arrived in Pittsburgh on Feb. 14, 1861.

The president-elect's train was almost three hours late pulling into the Federal Street depot on what is now Pittsburgh's North Side. That neighborhood was then in the separate municipality of Allegheny City. The long delay was caused by a freight train derailment that blocked the rail line between Rochester and Baden in Beaver County.

"So anxious were the assembled thousands to get a glimpse of the most prominent man now in the American Union that they esteemed the delay of an hour or two as a matter not intolerable under the circumstances," the Pittsburgh Gazette reported in its Feb. 15 edition.

While a heavy shower discouraged some spectators, thousands remained to cheer and call for a speech when his train arrived around 8 p.m.

Accompanied by his wife, Mary, and sons, Robert, Willie and Tad, Lincoln was following a circuitous 1,900-mile journey from his home in Springfield, Ill., to Washington, D.C.

He had turned 52 on Feb. 12, two days before his arrival in Pittsburgh. This Thursday will mark the 200th anniversary of his birth.

It was altogether fitting and proper that Lincoln should have made Pittsburgh one of the stops on the way to his inauguration, according to Andrew Masich, president of the Sen. John Heinz History Center.

The city had played a critical role in the founding of the Republican Party, he said. For two days in February 1856, delegates met on Wood Street in Lafayette Hall to hash out resolutions opposing the spread of slavery and admission of Kansas to the union as a free state.

During his 14 hours here, Lincoln greeted dozens of local politicians, including members of the Pittsburgh and Allegheny councils, and he was seen by thousands of noisy supporters. He would give three brief extemporaneous talks and make one longer speech. In that address he urged Americans north and south of the Mason-Dixon line "to keep cool" during the secession crisis that followed his election in November 1860.

"The rain was falling in torrents" as Lincoln left his train for carriages that would take him and his family from the depot to the Monongahela House, Pittsburgh's fanciest hotel.

"His appearance set the people wild with excitement, and cries of 'speech,' 'speech,' intermingled with continuous cheering, indicated that they were not to be put off without a word or two," the Gazette reported. "When Mr. Lincoln reached the carriage, he stepped in and stood up, acknowledging the honor paid to him in a few remarks."

He promised to address them the next morning at greater length. "When he concluded, cheer after cheer was given for 'Old Abe' ... ."

The Monongahela House faced Smithfield Street between what is now First Avenue and Boulevard of the Allies.

"So dense was the gathering [in front of the hotel], that the military had to clear a passage with their bayonets, when the President-elect stepped from the carriage and entered the hotel ... ."

Once inside, Lincoln climbed on a chair and spoke briefly to the people assembled in the lobby, while "the crowd outside still clamored for a speech with extraordinary vehemence," the Gazette said. Lincoln then stepped out on the hotel balcony to speak and be seen for the third time that evening.

"...[T]omorrow morning I will address you in broad daylight ... from this balcony when you will have an opportunity of seeing my handsome physiognomy," he joked. Then he wished the crowd a good night.

"A thundering 'good night' was echoed from the immense jam that blocked up the street below, and they then commenced retiring gradually, apparently satisfied that they had both heard and seen the great object of their curiosity."

The schedule for Friday morning, Feb. 15, called for Lincoln to make a grand procession through both Pittsburgh and Allegheny, but the length of his speech required that plan be cut short.

Lincoln devoted equal time in his morning address to the looming threat of Southern states to leave the union and to his support for strong tariffs that would tax imports and protect American industries. That second topic would have been of great interest to Pittsburgh business owners and workers.

Despite the decision of South Carolina to withdraw from the United States -- an action soon copied by several other states in the South -- Lincoln told the crowd he remained hopeful bloodshed could be avoided.

"Notwithstanding the troubles across the river," Lincoln said, gesturing south toward the Monongahela River, "there is really no crisis except an artificial one."

The Feb. 16 Gazette reported that this remark was greeted by laughter and applause.

"What is there now to warrant the condition of affairs presented by our friends 'over the river?' " he asked. "I repeat it then, there is no crisis, excepting such a one as may be gotten up at any time by designing politicians. My advice then under such circumstances, is to keep cool."

His 30-minute speech was interrupted more than a dozen times by "applause," "immense cheering," "tumultuous applause" and "laughter," the Gazette reported.

When Lincoln said, "But I am trespassing upon your patience, and must bring my remarks to a close," the crowd shouted "no," "no" and "Go on -- We'll listen."

Once again soldiers had to clear a path for the president-elect to leave the hotel and get into a carriage that took him back to the Federal Street depot. There another crowd estimated in the thousands waited to see him off.

The local militia units guarding Lincoln "made no effort here to press back the crowd, as it seemed next to impossible to obtain a passageway."

"Gen. [James S.] Negley, however, upon appealing to the people, succeeded in getting Mr. Lincoln from the carriage, and the party reached the platform one by one in Indian style."

A few minutes later, Lincoln's train departed for Cleveland, his next stop on his journey to Washington, D.C., via Buffalo, Albany, New York City, Philadelphia, Harrisburg and Baltimore.

During his passage through upstate New York, he made a brief stop in Westfield, N.Y., outside Buffalo. There he met Grace Bedell, the young girl who had written to him before the election, urging him to grow a beard. Lincoln shook her hand and kissed her on the cheek, Grace recalled in a letter she wrote after Lincoln's assassination.

Lincoln's optimism about a peaceful solution to the dispute between North and South was misplaced. On Feb. 18 -- while Lincoln was still on his way to Washington -- Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as provisional president of the Confederate States of America. Lincoln was inaugurated on March 4.

A month later, on April 12, Confederate forces fired on U.S. Fort Sumter, near Charleston, S.C. The Civil War was on.