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Near Hodgenville in Larue County, Kentucky — The American South (East South Central)
 

The Lincolns at Knob Creek

Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park

 
 
The Lincolns at Knob Creek Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Jason Voigt, September 29, 2025
1. The Lincolns at Knob Creek Marker
Inscription.
Challenges to land titles were common in Kentucky’s early years, and the Lincoln family experienced these problems firsthand.

In 1811, Thomas and Nancy Lincoln moved here, to Knob Creek, with their two children, Sarah and Abraham. They leased thirty acres of bottomland along the Old Cumberland Trail, and it was here that their third child, Thomas, was born and died in infancy.

Abraham and his sister attended the local school, located two miles northeast of here. Two teachers, Zachariah Riney and Caleb Hazel, gave young Abraham his first formal schooling. Lincoln’s classroom education, however, would not last. The demands of the frontier required him to work the family farm, but he continued his education. He borrowed books and read them in front of the fireplace or under a shade tree.

In 1815, the Lincolns and nine of their neighbors were involved in a land title dispute for the entire Knob Creek valley. The next autumn, Thomas Lincoln lost a court case to regain the Sinking Spring farm where the Lincoln Birthplace Memorial is now located. He then moved the family to present-day Spencer County, Indiana.

[ Insert - Lincoln letter to Hon. Samuel Haycraft ]

The place on Knob Creek, mentioned by Mr. Read, I remember very well; but I was not born there. As my parents have told me,
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I was born on Nolin, very much nearer Hodgin’s-Mill than the Knob Creek place is. My earliest recollection, however, is of the Knob Creek Place.

—Letter from Abraham Lincoln to the Hon. Samuel Haycraft, June 4, 1860

[ Insert on Left Side ]

Kentucky
– ∮ – ∮ – ∮ –
Lincoln
* Heritage Trail *


1809 — Abraham Lincoln born at Sinking Spring Farm, in present-day Larue County, Kentucky.

1816 — Lincoln family moved from Kentucky.

1841 — Abraham Lincoln visited his friend Joshua speed at Farmington, the Speed family plantation, in Louisville, Kentucky.

1842 — Abraham Lincoln married Mary Todd of Lexington, Kentucky.

1847 — The Lincoln family visited Lexington, Kentucky, en route to Abraham’s only term in Congress.

1860 — Abraham Lincoln elected President of the United States in November.

1865 — Abraham Lincoln assassinated at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C.
 
Erected by National Park Service.
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: EducationWomen. In addition, it is included in the Former U.S. Presidents: #16 Abraham Lincoln series list. A significant historical date for this entry is June 4, 1860.
 
Location.
Full View - - The Lincolns at Knob Creek Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Courtesy:: Ginger L. Drenning, September 5, 2012
2. Full View - - The Lincolns at Knob Creek Marker
37° 36.685′ N, 85° 38.277′ W. Marker is near Hodgenville, Kentucky, in Larue County. It can be reached from Bardstown Road (U.S. 31E) north of White City Road (Kentucky Route 470), on the left when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 7120 Bardstown Rd, New Haven KY 40051, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the American South and specifically in the Upper South. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture and also the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: A different marker also named Lincoln Knob Creek Farm (within shouting distance of this marker); The Lincoln Tavern (within shouting distance of this marker); My earliest recollection. . .is of the Knob Creek place (within shouting distance of this marker); Slavery in the Valley (within shouting distance of this marker); Living Off the Land (within shouting distance of this marker); Down by Knob Creek (within shouting distance of this marker); Abraham Lincoln's First School (approx. 2.1 miles away); Lincoln's Playmate (approx. 2.1 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Hodgenville.
 
Another marker is no longer nearby. Lincoln Knob Creek Farm (was here, next to this marker but has been permanently removed).
 
Also see . . .
1. Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park (National Park Service). (Submitted on February 4, 2026, by Jason Voigt of Glen Carbon, Illinois.)
2. Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park on Wikipedia
Thomas Lincoln image. Click for full size.
Courtesy:: Kentucky Historical Society
3. Thomas Lincoln
. (Submitted on February 4, 2026, by Jason Voigt of Glen Carbon, Illinois.)
 
Text - - The Lincolns at Knob Creek Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Courtesy:: Ginger L. Drenning, September 5, 2012
4. Text - - The Lincolns at Knob Creek Marker
Title Disputes - - Survey Map image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Courtesy:: Ginger L. Drenning, September 5, 2012
5. Title Disputes - - Survey Map
Text reads —
Many pioneer Kentuckians faced the same land claim issues as Thomas Lincoln. To the left is a survey map of overlapping land claims in late-18th-century Kentucky, where many individuals laid claim to the same tract of land.

Courtesy of the Eastern Kentucky University Archives
Photo - Cabin & Text image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Courtesy:: Ginger L. Drenning, September 5, 2012
6. Photo - Cabin & Text
Text reads —
The cabin before you was constructed using logs from the original Gollaher cabin. Austin Gollaher, a childhood playmate of Abraham Lincoln, is believed to have saved Lincoln from drowning by pulling him to safety from the nearby swollen creek.

Courtesy of Mary Brooks Howard
Photo - Cabin Logs & Text image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Courtesy:: Ginger L. Drenning, September 5, 2012
7. Photo - Cabin Logs & Text
Text reads —
The Gollaher cabin logs prior to their reassembly at the present site before you.

Courtesy of Mary Brooks Howard
Insert - - Kentucky - Lincoln - - Heritage Trail image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Courtesy:: Ginger L. Drenning, September 5, 2012
8. Insert - - Kentucky - Lincoln - - Heritage Trail
Cabin image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Courtesy:: Ginger L. Drenning, September 5, 2012
9. Cabin
Interior - - Cabin image. Click for full size.
Courtesy:: Kentucky Historical Society, January 23, 2008
10. Interior - - Cabin
Obverse - - Cabin image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Courtesy:: Ginger L. Drenning, September 5, 2012
11. Obverse - - Cabin
Tree with "Knob" image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Courtesy:: Ginger L. Drenning, September 5, 2012
12. Tree with "Knob"
Sign - - image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Courtesy:: Ginger L. Drenning, September 5, 2012
13. Sign - -

(Text of sign):

Northern Catalpa “Soft, weak, and brittle with very good
decay resistance and stability.

Mainly used for fence posts, rails,
beams, and crating. Also good for
turned articles and carving due to soft-
ness and stability. Other uses include
millwork, framing, forms, furniture,
drawer sides, and general purpose
construction.”
"Knob" of Tree image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Courtesy:: Ginger L. Drenning, September 5, 2012
14. "Knob" of Tree
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on February 4, 2026. It was originally submitted on October 9, 2012, by Al Wolf of Veedersburg, Indiana. This page has been viewed 971 times since then and 50 times this year. Photos:   1. submitted on February 4, 2026, by Jason Voigt of Glen Carbon, Illinois.   2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. submitted on October 9, 2012, by Al Wolf of Veedersburg, Indiana.
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Jun. 15, 2026