Field farmed by the Lincolns from 1811 to 1816, Knob Creek Unit of Abraham Lincoln National Historical Park
After being forced off his land at Sinking Spring Farm due to a land dispute in 1811, Thomas Lincoln moved his family to Knob Creek where he rented approximately thirty acres from George Lindsey. Abraham was not yet three years old at the time. He would spend the next five years of his life at Knob Creek, and it is here that he had his earliest childhood memories. At the time of the move, the Lincoln Family consisted of Thomas and Nancy (mom), Abraham, and his sister Sarah. A third child, Thomas Jr., was born at Knob Creek, but he died in childbirth.
Tombstone that once marked Thomas Lincoln Jr.’s grave at Knob Creek
During his time at Knob Creek, Thomas Lincoln continued the legal battle to win back his land at Sinking Spring Farm, but in 1816 the courts finally ruled against him. It was also in 1816 that George Lindsey found himself in a land dispute over his Knob Creek property. The Lincolns and nine other families were now facing possible eviction. Tired of the unstable land laws in Kentucky, and partially spurred on by a dislike for slavery—which was legal in Kentucky—the Lincolns packed up and moved to Indiana that December. Abraham never returned to Hodgenville.
In 1928, James Howell, the man who owned the land next to the Memorial Building and operated the Nancy Lincoln Inn, encouraged his sister Hattie Howell Howard and her husband to buy up the Knob Creek land and try to develop it into a tourist destination as well. After doing so, in 1931 they purchased a pile of logs from a disassembled cabin that supposedly belonged to the Gollaher family (friends of the Lincolns) and reassembled them on the farm site. They then built a small tavern in 1933. Over the years the tavern served as a restaurant, gift shop, museum, and dance hall. It is now the Visitor Center for the Knob Creek Unit. It is open from 9 AM to 5 PM on weekends in April, May, September, and October, and on Thursdays through Mondays from Memorial Day until Labor Day. It is closed in the winter. The grounds of the Knob Creek Unit are open daily from from dawn to dusk.
Tavern Visitor Center and Ranger Station at the Knob Creek Unit of Abraham Lincoln National Historical Park
Gollaher cabin at the Knob Creek Unit of Abraham Lincoln National Historical Park
Members of the Howard family owned the land until the late 1990s, at which time they decided to work with the Federal government so the property could become part of what was then called Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site. Congress authorized the acquisition of the land in 1998, and in 2001 the property was purchased by the LaRue County Fiscal Court and donated to the National Park Service. Since the park was no longer a single site, its designation was changed to National Historical Park.
In truth, there’s not much to see at Knob Creek. When I visited, I was the only one who didn’t just pull into the parking lot and immediately leave. If you do decide to visit, you should be done in no more than thirty minutes unless you decide to hike the Overlook Trail to a view of the Knob Creek valley. This is a moderately strenuous trail, and of the three trails at Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park, it is the only one that might be of interest to a true hiker. See the Overlook Trail review for details. Ultimately, the real reason to visit the Lincoln Boyhood Home unit is just to say that you stepped foot on the place where Lincoln grew up.
View of the Knob Creek valley
The Lincoln Boyhood Home at Knob Creek is located 10 miles by vehicle from the Birthplace unit. To get there, take a left out of the Visitor Center and head towards downtown Hodgenville until you reach the traffic circle (aka roundabout) in the center of town. There is a Lincoln Boyhood Home road sign prior to the traffic circle that points to the right, but there is a road immediately after the sign, so it’s easy to think it is referring to this road—this is not the case. Proceed into the traffic circle and take the first right, East Main Street (Hwy 31 E). This will take you all the way to the farm. You’ll drive forever and will be certain you somehow missed the turn, but then the farm suddenly appears. The drive takes about 20 minutes.
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Last updated on August 8, 2023
