Abraham Lincoln was famed for being honest, but not everything associated with his name is true.
Take, for example, both the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park and Abraham Lincoln’s Boyhood Home. Both sites bear his name, but the former doesn’t have the house in which he was born, nor does the latter have his boyhood home.
We recently visited both sites while on our 50 state road trip and were surprised to discover that neither of the buildings were originals – here’s why that’s the case.
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park
After checking out of the Holiday Inn Express Horse Cave and wandering around Mammoth Cave National Park for a while, we headed northeast for about an hour until we reached Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park.
It’s a fairly small park but it’s beautiful and well-maintained. Seeing as we had our dog Truffles with us, I waited outside with her while Shae went inside the visitor center to get our National Park passport stamped. Inside the visitor center is a small museum area with some exhibits.
One of the exhibits was the Lincoln family Bible that was printed in 1799.
The park was seemingly much busier than it would normally be on the day we visited. That’s because a high school prom was being held there, so parents were taking the opportunity to get prom photos in the beautiful surroundings.
We managed to snap a couple of photos in between though. At the top of the hill is the Memorial Building.
This Memorial Building was built 11 years before the Lincoln Memorial was built in Washington D.C. as it was constructed by the Lincoln Farm Association between 1909 and 1911.
Once the Memorial Building was complete, the cabin he was born in was reassembled inside. Apparently some people doubted at the time that it was the building he was actually born in, but there wasn’t any way to verify it at the time.
It turns out that the doubters were correct. In 2004, an analysis was done on the cabin’s tree rings and the dating placed it as being built in the 1840s. That’s more than 30 years after Lincoln was born, so there’s no way that it could’ve been his birthplace. It’s similar in design to the type of cabin he would’ve been born in though, so it’s remained in the Memorial Building.
Abraham Lincoln’s Boyhood Home
Having seen his birthplace, we decided to drive 10 miles up the road to visit Abraham Lincoln’s Boyhood Home at Knob Creek.
What I hadn’t realized until writing this post is that this wasn’t actually his boyhood home either. The original cabin was moved to another site in later years by his childhood friend Austin Gollaher and used to build a horse stable. That stable was subsequently washed away during a flood, so there’s nothing remaining of his boyhood home.
What stands in its place is, somewhat ironically, Austin Gollaher’s boyhood home. The cabin was moved to the site of Abraham Lincoln’s Boyhood Home to give visitors an idea of what the original building would’ve looked like.
Apparently I didn’t read the information boards at the site carefully enough when we visited as one of them did state that the cabin wasn’t the one Lincoln grew up in.
Another board provided more details about what life was like for the Lincolns while living here. Abraham Lincoln’s parents leased 30 acres of land at the site on which they farmed.
As the information board stated, living off the land was hard in those days. One small positive aspect for them might have been that they lived in a beautiful and peaceful setting.
Also on the site of Abraham Lincoln’s Boyhood Home is the Lincoln Tavern which was built in 1933 by Hattie Howell Howard. She grew up in the area and, in 1928, purchased Knob Creek Farm with her husband. They did this to preserve the land and because she wanted to help honor the former President.
Due to the site’s growing popularity with tourists, they opened the Lincoln Tavern. With gas pumps outside and food and drink inside, it became an even more popular place to stop and visit.
The business was hit hard when LaRue County became a dry county though, so the building was converted to a gift shop and museum.
Tip
If you have a National Park passport, you have to get the Boyhood Home stamp at the visitor center at Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park. We thankfully discovered that before leaving the birthplace, so we didn’t have to make a trip back.
Final Thoughts
Given that neither Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace nor boyhood home are the original buildings, our visit to both sites was a little disappointing. Having said that, I’d still recommend visiting if you’ll be nearby, if for no other reason than to learn more about Lincoln’s early life and get a couple more stamps in your National Park passport if you have one.
Addresses
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park, 2995 Lincoln Farm Rd, Hodgenville, KY 42748
Abraham Lincoln’s Boyhood Home at Knob Creek, 7120 Bardstown Rd, Hodgenville, KY 42748
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