Lincoln Homestead State Park

Story

Lincoln Homestead State Park is a state park located just north of Springfield, Kentucky in Washington County. The park encompasses, and features both historic buildings and reconstructions associated with Thomas Lincoln, father of President Abraham Lincoln.The two-story Francis Berry House is the only original structure; it was where Nancy Hanks, Abraham's mother, was working as a seamstress and living while being courted by Thomas Lincoln. Thomas is said to have proposed to Nancy by the large fireplace in the cabin.Two other buildings are reconstructions: the "workshop" where Thomas learned blacksmithing and carpentry, and the "Lincoln cabin." The by 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 from Virginia in 1781-2 with his wife Beersheba and their children following the American Revolutionary War. He was killed in May 1786 in an attack by an American Indian. Thomas was saved by his oldest brother Mordecai'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.