A metal replica of the foundation of the Lincoln cabin.
It's time to work on this project in earnest. First up, Abraham Lincoln's Boyhood home. Lincoln has four national parks dedicated to him: his birthplace in Kentucky, his boyhood home in Southern Indiana, his house in Springfield, Illinois, and Ford's Theatre in DC where he was killed. Of course we also have the Lincoln Memorial as part of the National Capital Area parks. Lincoln's family moved from Kentucky to Indiana in 1819, where they set up a small farm. They left Indiana in 1830 and moved to Illinois, where Lincoln began his rise to prominence. So Lincoln spent most of his childhood on this farm. His mother died a few years after the move, and the park contains her grave. Other highlights at the park are a working period farm (nothing was happening while I was there), a metal replica of the foundation of the Lincoln cabin, and a 1940's era visitor center. The visitor center is nice, but I felt it kind of detracted from what could have been a very nice and simple park. As an example, the official logo shows the visitor's center rather than Nancy Hanks' grave, the foundation of the cabin, or something actually related to Abraham Lincoln.
A quote carved into the visitor's center.
Sunrise through the trees. The park contained a short trail from the visitor's center to the grave and on to the farm, which was very beautiful as the sun rose behind the trees.
The grave of Abraham Lincoln's mother, Nancy Hanks. She died from milk sickness, a poisoning passed in the milk of cows that ate poisonous weeds.
Just the Facts:
Full Name: Abraham Lincoln Boyhood Home National Memorial
Location: Southern Indiana, in Lincoln City
Designated: February 1962
When I Visited: June 2008, one of the first stops on my cross-country road trip
