Lincoln Homestead State Park
Encyclopedia
Lincoln Homestead State Park is a park located just north of Springfield, Kentucky
Springfield, Kentucky
Springfield is a city in and county seat of Washington County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,634 at the 2000 census. It was established in 1793 and probably named for springs in the area.-Geography:...

 in Washington County
Washington County, Kentucky
Washington County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 10,916. Its county seat is Springfield. The county is named for George Washington. Washington County was the first county formed in the Commonwealth of Kentucky when it reached statehood...

. The park encompasses 120 acre (0.4856232 km²), and features both historic buildings and reconstructions associated with Thomas Lincoln
Thomas Lincoln
Thomas Lincoln was an American farmer and father of President Abraham Lincoln.-Ancestors:Thomas Lincoln was descended from Samuel Lincoln, a Puritan from East Anglia who landed in Massachusetts in 1637...

, father of the president Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

.

The three houses are associated with Thomas Lincoln
Thomas Lincoln
Thomas Lincoln was an American farmer and father of President Abraham Lincoln.-Ancestors:Thomas Lincoln was descended from Samuel Lincoln, a Puritan from East Anglia who landed in Massachusetts in 1637...

, the father of Abraham Lincoln. The two-story Francis Berry House is the only original structure; it was where Nancy Hanks
Nancy Hanks
Nancy Hanks Lincoln was the mother of Abraham Lincoln and of Sarah Lincoln after her marriage to Thomas Lincoln. After the family moved from Kentucky to Spencer County, Indiana, Nancy Lincoln died of milk sickness at the Little Pigeon Creek settlement...

, Abraham's mother, was working as a seamstress and living while being courted by Thomas Lincoln. Thomas proposed to Nancy by the large fireplace in the cabin.

The other two buildings are reconstructions: the workshop where Thomas learned blacksmithing and carpentry, and the Lincoln cabin. The 16 feet (4.9 m) by 18 feet (5.5 m) structure was built on the site of the original Lincoln cabin where Thomas lived with his family as a boy. It is made of 115-year-old logs. The furnishings were made by Thomas Lincoln as an artisan.

Captain Abraham Lincoln, the president's grandfather, had moved to the site in 1781-2 with his wife Beersheba and children from Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 following the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

. He was killed in May 1786 in an attack by an American Indian. Thomas was saved by his oldest brother Mordecai
Mordecai Lincoln
Mordecai Lincoln was the uncle of President Abraham Lincoln. He was the son of Captain Abraham Lincoln, and brother of Thomas Lincoln. He was married to Mary Mudd. He is buried at the Old Catholic or Lincoln Cemetery near Fountain Green, Illinois...

's shooting the Indian before he could do anything to the boy. Captain Lincoln was buried near the cabin, but the exact location is unknown.

The buildings are open between May and September. Camping on the grounds is not permitted, but visitors may picnic there as well as fish at the lake. There is also a playground for the children.

The park includes an 18-hole golf course on the land Mordecai Lincoln once farmed. On the other side of the road from the golf course is the Mordecai Lincoln House, built by Mordecai as an adult. It is a state-recognized historic structure.

External links

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