Most Americans know that Abraham Lincoln, the nation’s sixteenth president, lived a modest childhood. He was born in a log cabin in Kentucky and moved with his family to other cabins in Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois until striking out on his own when he was 22 years old. Over the past few years, we’ve visited five Lincoln home sites, all of which are designated state or national historic sites.
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park
Lincoln was born in what is now Hodgenville, Kentucky. His birthplace, Sinking Spring Farm, is now the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park. A small museum in the park includes a diorama of what the inside of the cabin where Lincoln was born may have looked like. Several artifacts are also on display, including the Lincoln family Bible.
Also on the property is the First Lincoln Memorial. President Theodore Roosevelt laid the cornerstone for the memorial on February 12, 1909, Lincoln’s 100th birthday. Fifty-six stairs lead to the memorial building, one stair every year of Lincoln’s life. Inside the building, sixteen windows and sixteen rosettes in the ceiling symbolize Lincoln as the sixteenth president. An old cabin from the area inside the memorial building symbolizes the one in which Lincoln would have lived. The fencing that surrounds the cabin has sixteen posts.
Read more about the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park
- Indiana offers life as fast as the Indy 500, as slow as watching bison on a prairie, and everything in between
- 100 Things to Do in Indiana Before You Die will guide you to all the best spots in the state with itineraries, tips, and ideas for the whole family
- Catch hoops hysteria at the Hoosier Gym, devour your way through the Indiana Culinary Trails, and challenge yourself to the trails at Turkey Run State Park
- Get your groove on at the largest music store, or take that much-needed break at the luxurious and historic French Lick Resort
- Explore amazing agriculture with the entire family at Fair Oaks Farms
Boyhood Home at Knob Creek
Following a land dispute, the Lincoln family moved down the road to Knob Creek. Abraham was two year old at the time. It was at Knob Creek that Abraham had his first recollections of childhood. One incident he didn’t forget was the time he almost drowned. He fell into the creek while playing and probably would have drowned had it not been for his childhood friend, Austin Gollaher. Austin held a long tree branch out to Abraham to grab onto and pulled him in.
An old cabin on the Lincoln property is not the one the family lived in, but is representative of it.
Read more about Lincoln’s Boyhood Home at Knob Creek.
Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial
When Abraham was seven years old, the family moved to Indiana following another land dispute. It was in this home that he lived his formative years. His mother died here, and after his father remarried, his stepmother continued to encourage his love for reading and learning.
In the visitor center, watch the orientation film and then browse the exhibits in the small museum. Afterward, walk the path to the farm. You’ll pass the small museum where Nancy Hanks Lincoln, Abraham’s mother, is interred.
A replica of the family’s cabin and other farm buildings stand a short distance from what experts believe is the exact site of the family’s home. In season, the land becomes a working farm. Workers perform chores using the same methods as the Lincoln family would have.
Walk the mile-long Trail of Twelve Stones. Near each stone on the path a sign indicates the stone’s significance. One is a brick from Mary Todd Lincoln’s Lexington, Kentucky home. Another is a rock from the site where Lincoln orated the Gettysburg Address.
“There I grew up,” Lincoln once stated about the Indiana home.
Read more about the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial.
Decatur, Illinois, Home Site
When Lincoln was 21 years old, he moved with his family to Decatur, Illinois. They lived here only one year, suffering through the hard winter of 1830-31. When his family moved on, Abraham stayed in central Illinois.
A sign in the Lincoln Homestead Trail State Park marks the home site.
Lincoln’s New Salem
When Lincoln left the family nest, he took on a job as a float boatman. The man he worked for, Denton Offut, subsequently opened a store in New Salem, Illinois, and hired Lincoln to work as a clerk. During his years in New Salem, Lincoln worked at a second store, was a surveyor, postmaster, and a captain in the Black Hawk War.
In the reconstructed New Salem, visit over twenty recreated log buildings and watch artisans ply their crafts. One building is rebuilt on its original foundation. The others were constructed according the historic plat.
Read more about Lincoln’s New Salem.
- There may be a Springfield in many states, but only one of them is a capital: Springfield, Illinois
- Within the pages of 100 Things to Do in Springfield, IL, Before You Die, however, you ll find out that Springfield is much more than Abraham Lincoln s hometown and Illinois s capital
- Those highlights may have put Springfield on the map in a way few other cities of its size can match, but this book reveals hidden gems that even locals might not know about
- Explore the parks and nature preserves, war memorials, and museums
- Visit one of Frank Lloyd Wright s greatest designs at the Dana Thomas House, or hear the beautiful melodies of one of the world s largest carillons at the Thomas Rees Memorial Carillon
Lincoln Home National Historic Site
The only home that Abraham Lincoln ever owned is in Springfield, Illinois. He lived here for seventeen years prior to being elected President. The home started out a modest size. As the family grew and Lincoln’s law practice flourished, Lincoln added onto the home.
Today the home and the area around it make up the Lincoln Home National Historic Site. Stop first at the visitor center to get a tour ticket. Tours are free (although there is a parking fee), but tour sizes are limited. On busy in-season weekends, go early to get tickets for your desired tour time.
The home includes several of the family’s possessions. The only one you can touch is the railing going upstairs. The railing is original to the house.
Read more about the Lincoln Home National Historic Site.
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I’ve been to a number of Lincoln sites, but you’ve inspired me to visit more! I’d especially like to see the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park. Thanks for this great list!
The First Lincoln Memorial at the birthplace is impressive.
How neat! I remember checking out all of the Lincoln sites in Springfield when I was a teenager with my family but have never seen any of the others. My husband and I have a friend who is a great, great, great…… grandson of Austin Gollaher. Him and his family farm in Kentucky.
That is so cool! You should visit the Kentucky birth site…and then drive up to the boyhood home.