Complete information on visiting the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park is now on National Park Planner!
The Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park preserves the site where Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, though nothing remains of his original home or any other aspect of his early life. The focus of the park is on Lincoln’s ancestry and childhood years. In fact, you will learn more about his parents and the type of cabin that he lived in than the man himself, and nothing of his years as an adult. The park is essentially a place where visitors can come just to say that they stood on the ground where Lincoln was born.
There are two sections to the park: Sinking Spring Farm, the place where Lincoln was born and lived until he was a little over two years old, and Knob Creek, the farm that the Lincolns moved to in 1811. Sinking Spring Farm is the main and most popular section of the park. It is here that you will find the Visitor Center where you can pick up park information, browse through a small museum, and watch a short film about the birth site and the creation of the park. There are also two trails on the property and a picnic area, but the centerpiece is what can be said to be the original Lincoln Memorial, the neoclassical-styled Memorial Building that marks the approximate location of where Lincolns’ birth cabin once stood.
As is the case at Sinking Spring Farm, nothing remains from the Lincolns’ stay at Knob Creek. Visitors will find an old tavern that is no longer in service and the cabin of Abraham’s boyhood friend, Austin Gollaher. A one-way, 1.5-mile trail leads up to the top of a small mountain where you can get a view of the Knob Creek valley. Unless you want to hike the trail or simply must set foot on the place where Lincoln grew up, there’s not much reason to make the trip from the birth site.
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Last updated on June 19, 2024
