Lincoln City, Indiana - the boyhood home of Abraham Lincoln

 Abraham Lincoln's family moved from Kentucky to southern Indiana in 1816 when he was only 8 years old and lived there until 1830 when his family moved to Illinois.

The Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial is in Lincoln City, Indiana, and was our destination on the morning of May 27th.  Having spent the previous few days in Springfield, Illinois, where Lincoln lived as an adult, we had a greater appreciation for the area where he lived as a child and adolescent.  This National Park Service site has been kept rustic and woodsy to maintain a sense of how the Lincoln family found it when they first arrived.

When you arrive at the site, there is the memorial and visitor center.  This location is only open a few days a week during the off season, but because we were there on Memorial Day, it was the beginning of their season of being open daily.  However, there was a sign on the door that they were closed from noon to 1 PM -- I should have taken it seriously because when we had finished exploring the site and returned to buy a souvenir and use the restroom at 12:15 PM, the doors were locked!  Thankfully when we arrived earlier I had taken my National Parks passport in and stamped it.  Otherwise we would have had to come back or just wait 45 minutes in the heat of the day.

Here are some pictures from outside the building.

Inside the visitor center is the Lincoln Hall which has a chapel area.  Here are a few pictures from inside the building.

One of the "main attractions" of the Lincoln Boyhood site is the grave of his mother Nancy Hanks Lincoln.  His sister Sarah (Sally) is buried at the State Park across the street.  Lincoln was a young boy when his mother passed away. 

Also on the site is the Thomas Lincoln farm.  The site is on the actual Lincoln property, and there is an area that marks where their cabin stood.  On the way to the farm buildings, there is a field with wildflowers.  The maintenance man said they spent $1,100 on a bag of wildflower seeds and I should have seen it just a week or so before we were there!  Many of the flowers are perennial s they should regrow next year.

Next to the cabin site is a pioneer farm area that you can explore.  When they have enough volunteers, there are interpretive exhibits ongoing.  But the only interpreters we encountered were a pair of horses and a cow.  And one lawn maintenance man.

A short walk from the farm area is the spring where the Lincolns would have gotten their water.  There's a marker there.  There's also a train that used to run through the Lincoln farm (but not when they lived there, obviously).

As you leave the farm area, you can return to the visitor center the way you came, or you can complete a loop following what is known as the Trail of Twelve Stones.  The Twelve Stones are actual stone markers that are taken from significant places that Lincoln had been.  While I don't think I got a picture of all of them, here are some.

We enjoyed the morning we spent at the Lincoln Boyhood Memorial in Lincoln City.  And even if you're not interested in the history of the place, it makes a nice spot for a picnic or nature walk.  

~ Cindy D.