Director

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, famously lived in a log cabin through his childhood. The cabin went unpreserved through his lifetime and was inhabitable before he took the office. The park is, however, the same land that log cabin was built on. The site was initially a 300 acre farm that was purchased by his father. The grand memorial building was built from 1909-1911.&nbsp;The memorial building was built in a Greek revival style that mimics the same style of the Lincoln Memorial. There&nbsp;is a corner stone on the right side of the building that&nbsp;has the date 1909 carved in it to represent the 100th anniversary of Lincoln's birth.&nbsp;The building has 56 marble steps, one for each of Lincoln's years. Within the building visitors can find exhibits on Lincoln and his life. Within the memorial is a log cabin built in 1910. This cabin is a reconstruction of Lincoln's childhood home, though by the time it was built, there was no one with firsthand experience of the building. The actual cabin Lincoln was born in was&nbsp;a little bigger&nbsp;than the one in the memorial building. The Lincoln family remained&nbsp;in this cabin&nbsp;for the first two years of Abraham Lincoln's&nbsp;life and then moved to the nearby Knob Creek Farm.&nbsp;

Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park 

Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park entry sign

More Info

Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park Virtual Tour

Video

This National Park was built around the site of Abraham Lincoln's childhood home. The first building is a large, neoclassical monument. There are 56 steps to lead into the building, one for each year of Lincoln's life before his assassination. Within this building is a reconstruction of his log home that was built in 1910 by the Lincoln Farm Association. The log cabin that Lincoln had lived in had long been destroyed by the time Lincoln had become president. The museum exhibits information about Lincoln and his family as well as artifacts from his lifetime. 

Classroom

A short drive connects several historical sites related to Lincoln's birth and early years. This tours starts at the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park and includes the Lincoln Museum, Lincoln Square in Hodgenville, and Knob Creek Farm where the future President spent some of his formative years. 

The city dedicated the six-foot tall monument of Lincoln on May 31, 1909. The statue was made by German sculptor Adolph Weinman who was also responsible for making another Lincoln statue located inside the Kentucky capitol building in Frankfort. Abraham’s son Robert Todd Lincoln attended the unveiling ceremony along with over 10,000 other guests. Governor Augustus E. Wilson accepted the statue on part of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Abraham Lincoln was born February 12, 1809 in what which is now Larue County Kentucky.&nbsp; The bronze statue depicts Lincoln sitting in an Empire style chair and rests on a 12ft marble foundation that is strategically placed to act as a centerpiece for Hodgenville.&nbsp;The words inscribed on the marble foundation read:&nbsp; "Two miles south of here Abraham Lincoln was born February twelfth&nbsp; eighteen hundred and nine erected with appropriations made by the legislatures of Kentucky and Congress of the United States of America ANNO DOMINI MCMIX" (3)

On May 31, 2008 a statue depicting a young Abraham Lincoln sitting on a tree stump reading a book was added to the collection in Public Square Memorial. Nearby in the square on the side of a stone block a plaque reads:



The town square is located next to several historic buildings such as Hodgenville Christian Church which was built in 1877 it is the second oldest remaining building in town. The statue is also located next to the Lincoln Museum.

Only two miles north of the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, this statue in the heart of Hodgenville Public Square features a six-foot-tall statue of the 16th President on top of a twelve-foot marble foundation. Sculptor Adolph Weinman designed the monument which was dedicated to the town of Hodgenville May 31, 1909. On May 31, 2008 a statue depicting a young Abraham Lincoln sitting on a tree stump reading a book was added to the Public Square Memorial. The two figures face one another and provide an aesthetic centerpiece for visitors and local townspeople. 

Lincoln Square Circle, Hodgenville 

Located near Abraham&nbsp;Lincoln&nbsp;Birthplace&nbsp;National Historical&nbsp;Park, Hodgenville's&nbsp;Lincoln Museum opened its doors April 1, 1989, thanks to community support that led to the creation of this nonprofit organization. The museum is devoted to educating the public and preserving Abraham Lincoln’s early history and connections to Kentucky. The museum&nbsp;offers an interpretation of Lincoln's life with twelve historic scenes from his life along with a variety of artifacts and original art. The museums also offers&nbsp;exhibits related to the Civil War in this section of Kentucky with an emphasis on Lincoln's leadership as President and his assassination&nbsp;and funeral train.

The exhibits contain wax mannequins that recreate scenes from Lincoln's life. For example, visitors&nbsp;can see young Lincoln working outdoors and completing frontier&nbsp;tasks such as clearing land and tending to livestock. The museum has a scene from the Lincoln Douglas Debates-- a series of seven debates held throughout Illinois where the two men represented their party's candidates in 1858. The museum&nbsp;also has a display that shows Lincoln writing the Emancipation Proclamation in the final months of 1862.&nbsp;In addition to the main exhibits on the&nbsp;first floor, the museum also includes a second floor filled with additional artifacts, artwork, news clippings, campaign posters, and extra memorabilia. The museum gift shop features music, crafts, arts, and a collection of take-home souvenirs. &nbsp;

The main attraction for visitors to Hodgenville, this museum is part of the National Historical District dedicated to the early life of Abraham Lincoln. The museum is located just a few feet away from Lincoln Square Memorial and includes exhibits drawn from artifacts related to Abraham Lincoln’s life. The museum was incorporated in March 1988 and opened on April 1, 1989, and has expanded over the years.

Lincoln Museum

Lincoln's family moved to Knob Creek in 1811 and established a farm on 30 acres the family did not own. Lincoln was two years of age when the family arrived here and it is believed that some of Lincoln's rugged character were&nbsp;established during his time at this farm. Abraham Lincoln’s father, Thomas, tried to buy Knob Creek Farm in 1815. When he was unable to acquire the land, he moved the family to Indiana the following year.&nbsp;The home where the Lincoln family lived was destroyed in 1870. The current farmhouse that is located on the land was 1931 by the Howard family, Kentucky farmers who bought the property in 1928. Knob Creek Farm was privately owned until the early 21st century when the National Park Service gained possession of the land. The site is now open to the public and visitors can come to the farm from the months of April to October.

Abraham Lincoln lived at this farm from 1811 to 1816. At the time when the family arrived here, the future President was two-and-a-half years old and he lived here until the age of eight. The farm and the cabin is a relatively short distance from the site of Lincoln’s birth. According to a letter by Lincoln in 1860, his days at this farm were his earliest memories. Lincoln's family was poor, but education was so important that both Lincoln and his sister were able to attend a few days at a school prior to the adoption of publicly-supported schools in Kentucky which came in 1830. 

Lincoln Birthplace Driving Tour

Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information