Indiana Years sculpture at Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial

PARK OVERVIEW

Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in Lincoln City, Indiana, preserves a portion of the 160-arce farm where Abraham Lincoln lived with his family from 1816 to 1830. Lincoln was seven years old when the family moved from Hodgenville, Kentucky, to what was then called the Little Pigeon Creek Community, a rural area with approximately 40 families living within a five mile radius. The family left Indiana and moved to Illinois when Lincoln was 21 years old.

The park began in the early 1930s as Nancy Hanks Lincoln State Memorial, a part of Indiana’s Lincoln State Park that opened in 1932. In 1962, Indiana gave the memorial section of the state park to the National Park Service for the creation of Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial. The designation of National Memorial means that while park attractions include Nancy Lincoln’s grave and the Lincoln Family cabin site, locations of any features are speculative. When the Lincolns left Indiana, they were just another anonymous family in rural Indiana. Nobody was concerned about where their old cabins once stood or where family members were buried. Even Lincoln’s first presidency didn’t stir up much interest in his former life. It wasn’t until he was assassinated in April 1865 that people began searching for places connected to him. In fact, Lincoln City was founded in 1872 by four men who bought the land where the Lincoln’s lived in hopes of capitalizing on the newfound interest in the dead president’s past.

Lincoln Cabin Site at Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial

The most popular attraction at Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial is the Lincoln Living Historical Farm that was built in the late 1960s as part of the National Park Service’s interest in recreating a variety of agricultural time periods at parks throughout the different regions of the United States. Numerous such farms were constructed at National Parks during this time. The 1960s was also when living history became a craze. This is where actors, typically historians or volunteers interested in history (or park Rangers in the case of the Lincoln Farm) dress in period costume and act as if they really are living in the past. At the Lincoln Farm, visitors can watch demonstrations of traditional skills such as carpentry, blacksmithing, and cooking in a fireplace. The farm also has cows, horses, chickens and sheep, and a variety of crops are grown.

Lincoln Living Historical Farm at Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial

There are three short trails at the park totaling only a couple of miles in length. The Lincoln Boyhood Trail leads to the Lincoln Living Historical Farm, and the Trail of Twelve Stones has a collection of stones along its path that were taken from various locations that were important in Abraham Lincoln’s life. A third, the Boyhood Nature Trail, is a typical nature trail with wayside exhibits that identify trees and plants that grow in the area.

OPERATING HOURS

The grounds of Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial are open daily from sunrise to sunset.

The Visitor Center is typically open on Wednesdays through Sundays from 9 AM to 12 PM and 1 PM to 3 PM. It is closed at lunchtime. The facility is also closed on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. Keep in mind that times can always change, so be sure to get the latest schedule on the National Park Service’s official Operating Hours and Seasons web page for the park.

Visitors can stop at the Lincoln Living Historical Farm anytime the park is open. However, activities at the farm, which include being able to go inside some of the buildings and talk with the Living History volunteers and Rangers, are only held from noon until 3 PM from mid-April through September. If you are coming to the park specifically to see the farm in action, call the Visitor Center at (812) 937-4541 to get an updated schedule.

FEES

There is no fee to visit Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial.

SCHEDULING YOUR TIME

Visitor Center
allow 30 minutes

Lincoln Living Historical Farm
allow up to an hour or even more depending on events being held at the farm

Hiking Trails
allow an hour

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