4. Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial, Indiana

Hello and welcome back to the latest entry in our blog!  For this post, we will be traveling to southern Indiana to another Presidential site and our first NPS unit dedicated to Abraham Lincoln.

 

Entrance Sign



BACKGROUND:

               In 1816, a man named Thomas Lincoln purchased a track of land in southern Indiana, not far from the Ohio river and moved there with his family from neighboring Kentucky.  His son, a seven-year-old boy named Abraham, would one day go on to save the Union.  At that time though, the Lincolns were simple frontier farmers trying their best to make a living.  For the next fourteen years, Abraham Lincoln would grow up at the homestead in Indiana, enduring frontier hardships and the tragic deaths of his mother and sister, which would shape him into the man of greatness he would later become.

               In the 1930s, a century after the Lincoln family had left the area, and as the memories of Lincoln’s deeds and the Civil War passed into history, the State of Indiana wished to commemorate their association with the great President.  Construction of a memorial began, completed during World War Two, which served to mark Lincoln’s time in Indiana as well as commemorate the gravesite of Lincoln’s mother.  In 1962, the State of Indiana donated the land on which the memorial stood to the federal government, thus creating the first National Park Service unit in Indiana.

THE MEMORIAL:

 

Exterior of the memorial visitor center with bas relief carvings

               Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial is located in the small hamlet of Lincoln City, Spencer county Indiana, about an hour and a half drive west from Louisville, Kentucky.  The physical memorial itself is in fact the exterior facing of the visitor center.  The façade of the visitor center is a semi-circular wall, lined with five bas relief carvings of Lincoln throughout his life.  A panel is dedicated to Lincoln’s time living in Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and Washington D.C., with the final center panel titled with Edwin Stanton’s words upon Lincoln’s death, “He belongs to the ages,” symbolizing his passing into legend.  The interior of the visitor center has exhibits on frontier life in the area, and a short film.  On either end of the visitor center are two wings, each containing a meeting hall.  One, designed to imitate a frontier church, is dedicated to Lincoln.  The other, filled with symbols of quaint 19^th century frontier home life, dedicated to his mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln.



Interior of the Lincoln Hall

               Outside and opposite the visitor center is a rectangular lawn, or Allee, rising uphill toward a flagpole.  Just beyond the flagpole is a small cemetery dating to the early 1800s.  Among the graves atop the hill is that of Nancy Hanks Lincoln, who died in 1818 when Lincoln was only nine, of milk sickness, a disease brought on by drinking milk from a cow that had ingested poisonous plants.  Although the exact location of her grave is unknown, a headstone is placed within the cemetery to mark the area as her resting place.

Gravestone of Nancy Hanks Lincoln

               Beyond the cemetery, a trail will take you to the site of the Lincolns' cabin.  The foundation of the original log cabin was discovered by archaeologists and later a bronze outline was cast to preserve its location.  Further down the trail is a replica farming community, where living history experts demonstrate how the Lincoln family would have lived on the early 19^th century frontier.  Additional trails cross through the land on the memorial property, including the Trail of Twelve Stones, which winds back from the farm to the visitor center along which twelve stones from significant places or buildings from points in Lincoln’s life have been placed.

 

Bronze outline of the foundation of the Lincoln cabin

TRAVEL TIPS:

               The Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial is open year-round except for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s.  The Living Historical Farm, while open for viewing all year, is only operational from April through September.  In the winter months, the farm is staffed, as a Park Ranger on site put it, “By a rooster and six hens.”  The short film at the visitor center is recommended before touring the site, and the wing meetings halls are worth a peek.  The Lincoln hall in particular is favorite local venue for weddings.

Living Historical Farm

While the facilities at the visitor center are handicap accessible, the trails and paths to the gravesite and farm are fairly rugged.  In addition, two railroad tracks cross the boundaries of the memorial and two of the trails, so all visitors are encouraged to be aware of their surroundings.

               We hope you enjoyed this latest installment in our guide to the National Parks.  In two weeks’ time, we will be adding a special post covering the first of several Affiliated Sites.  Afterwards we will be updating the blog monthly instead of bi-weekly.  Safe Travels!

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:



Allee leading to the cemetery on the hill

The Trail of Twelve Stones

The winter "staff" at the Living Historical Farm