Abraham Lincoln's Boyhood

Abraham Lincoln Birthplace

"I was born on February 12, 1809, in the then Hardin County, Kentucky, at a point within the now county of LaRue, a mile or a mile and a half from where Hodgen's Mill now is." - Abraham Lincoln

 

This neoclassical structure structure may seem grandiose for a man who wrote: "I was born, and have remained, in the most humble walks of life."  This marble and granite memorial was well thought out with 56 stairs for Lincoln's 56 years of life, 16 columns, 16 windows, and 16 brass posts around the cabin inside because Lincoln was the 16th president.

... With Malice Towards None, With Charity For All

President Theodore Roosevelt laid the cornerstone in 1909.

Sixteen columns

Sixteen windows

View from the memorial looking down the staircase.

Door knocker

This log cabin sits inside the memorial and is old and typical of the area but it is not the original Lincoln cabin.  The National Park Service considers it a symbolic cabin.

The farm Thomas Lincoln purchased for $200.00 cash was named Sinking Springs because of this large limestone spring.

Built in 1928, the Nancy Lincoln Inn sits on National Park property but it is privately owned.  The inn plus the four small overnight cabins were designed to accommodate the many tourists who wished to visit the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln.

Hodgenville, Kentucky

These two statues face each other on the circle in the center of town.  Abraham Lincoln, the man, and Abe Lincoln, the boy.

Lincoln Boyhood Home at Knob Creek

The reconstructed boyhood cabin at Knob Creek.

View of the hills or knobs, surrounding Knob Creek Farm.

Knob Creek... Lincoln recalled falling into the waters of this stream and almost drowning, before being pulled to safety by his friend, Austin Gollaher.

Northern Catalpa, a soft wood mainly used for fence posts, railing, beams, and crafting.