Lincoln's boyhood home shows Abe's Bluegrass ties
Visit Lincoln's boyhood home in Hodgenville, Ky., where the future president lived until age 8.
The Lincolns moved to the site in 1811, when young Abe was just 2 years old. Until age 8, Abraham Lincoln lived on the 30-acre parcel at Knob Creek Farm in Hodgenville, Ky. about 45 minutes from Louisville. The cabin is 10 miles northeast of the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park's birthplace unit along U.S. 31 east.
At this site, Lincoln grew from a toddler to a boy who performed such chores as drawing water, planting seeds, picking berries and gathering firewood. Lincoln learned to read and developed his lifelong love of learning here. He fished the clear waters of Knob Creek — and nearly drowned in them, too! Sadly, Lincoln's baby brother Thomas was born, died and buried here, too.
It was at Knob Creek Farm that the young Abe first saw slaves being moved south along the Louisville-Nashville Turnpike, part of the old Cumberland Road, to be sold further south.
Lincoln's family left Knob Creek Farm in 1816 for Spencer County, Ind. Their cabin was torn down in 1870. The log cabin at the site is original to the time period, but it never housed the Lincoln family. It likely belonged to a neighbor of the Lincolns. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.
Visitors can take a guided tour and view the movie, Abraham Lincoln: The Kentucky Years. Children can tour the recreated pioneer's cabin at the Visitor's Center, learn more about early 19th century tools and skills and make a miniature log cabin.
The home is open during daylight hours 365 days a year. The interpretive staff works from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern time Saturdays and Sundays from the first Saturday in April until Memorial Day, and then daily from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Tours are self-guided when the staff is not on duty. No flash photography is allowed within the log cabin.
Tours and school field trips should make reservations. For details, click here. The National Park Service provides online resources for teachers.
- by Ivonne Rovira, Louisville Reporter for HelloMetro
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Ivonne RoviraA graduate of the prestigious Columbia University School of Journalism in New York City, Ivonne Rovira worked as a reporter for the Miami News, The Miami Herald and The Associated Press. She has written articles for The National Catholic Reporter and The Courier-Journal. For more than 15 years, Ivonne wrote and edited articles aimed at middle-school children.
