You know history has a way of becoming addictive – once you get into learning about something you gotta follow the whole path. We’ve been to Lincoln’s boyhood home in Kentucky. There we learned that he moved to Indiana when he was 7 years old. We’ve been to the Lincoln Memorial, Ford Theater and the Peterson House where he died.
Our latest stop on Learning about Lincoln was the Abraham Lincoln Boyhood Home National Memorial in Indiana. The Memorial features a visitor center and the grave of his mom Nancy Hanks Lincoln. Abraham lived and worked here until he was 21. You can see the grave marker for his mom who died of Milk Sickness. This spot in Indiana is off the beaten path much like it was when Lincoln moved here.
There are some hiking opportunities on the campus. The building is stunning with granite carved tributes to the 16th US President.
Admission is now free, it wasn’t when we visited in December.
Don’t miss the chapel, Nancy’s great hall and the small museum and Lincoln artifacts throughout the museum. Also there is a piece of furniture Lincoln’s dad made.
Junior Ranger:
The book was fairly quick but really informative. The kids were able to finish it independently for the most part. There were two tasks that all the kids needed help with so we did those as a family.
BONUS TIP:
Ask the ranger if they have any Cushaw squash seeds to plant. You’ll learn that it’s the same squash Lincoln’s dad Thomas grew in Kentucky & southern Indiana. The rangers gave us some for free.
Address:
3027 East South Street
Lincoln City, IN 47552
Phone:
(812) 937-4541
We visited in Jan 2018. Planted Cushaw seeds, grew plants, made pie, ate pie 🙂 .