Lincoln Boyhood Home (Lincoln City, Indiana)

FILMED IN HIGH DEFINITION
This is by far one of my favorite places in the state of Indiana: a shrine to President Abraham Lincoln. Built entirely out of Indiana limestone and sandstone, it’s a very serene, quiet place that I’ve visited again and again, to recenter and refocus. And there is no admission charge, despite how great it is.
The impressive memorial contains a theatre that shows a movie about Lincoln’s life, a large chapel, a museum with Lincoln artifacts, a post office, gift shop, an artist rendition of his mother, Nancy, and a very powerful picture of the Ohio River with a lone flatboat, and presumably Abe Lincoln himself: guiding it downstream, like he guided a nation through a difficult time, not knowing exactly what to expect.
The site also contains a pioneer cemetery where his Mother is buried, a bronzed cabin foundation and fireplace of what was believed to be the Lincoln home, a working pioneer farm with interpreters in period clothing (during the tourist season), and the Lincoln well where they retrieved their water each day. This is in addition to the “Trail of 12 stones”, which has a stone from 12 significant places of his life. This is simply a wonderful place to escape for several hours and recharge in the quietness of the Hoosier landscape.
BIONUS: As a bonus, the Lincoln State Park is also covered, which is directly across the street from the memorial, on highway 162. There you’ll find another limestone memorial, sculpture of Abraham Lincoln, the Little Pigeon Creek Baptist Church, and the gravesite of his sister, Sarah. The park also has a large outdoor theater, famous for its annual production of “Young Abe Lincoln”, a nature center, and a large, quiet lake with a floating pier and bridge, to pause for reflection. There is a per vehicle fee for admission.
BONUS #2: Lastly, just down the road from Lincoln State Park (actually managed by the park), is the home of Colonel William Jones, whom was both Lincoln’s employer and friend. This attraction is free to visit unless a formal tour is given (by appointment from the Lincoln State Park office).
This area can easily take all day if you leisurely tour the memorials, pioneer farm, nature center, walk the trails, and pause for reflection along the way. An outstanding place to recharge and refresh your spirit.

[@meandthemrs7403]

The Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park, just 2 hours south of there in Kentucky is pretty neat too.

[@AdventureswithRoger]

Been to both as a Lincoln nut! 🙂

[@buckshoth585]

You are a very talented narrator. Insightful, thought provoking, and profound.

[@AdventureswithRoger]

Thank-you!

[@Chichilovee]

I really enjoyed this Roger. I’m in awe at the many places you have found to film. This actually may be my favorite!

[@AdventureswithRoger]

Thanks Renae! I believe this is the longest KZbin travel video I’ve done to date, thanks for sitting to watch it! There are actually three more Lincoln sites down the road, but decided 16 minutes was enough for this one! Many additional discoveries to edit, I truly appreciate your encouragement. It means a lot!

[@edwardh1591]

This place is really neat. I enjoyed going here. Been many years

[@AdventureswithRoger]

Museum has a ramp now! Also one of my favorite places.

[@travelschoolindiana4841]

Very well done! Summary and ending is excellent. This video is exactly what I was looking for, to add to a playlist of great historical spots to visit in Indiana. I share my lists with homeschool parents and other teachers who want field trip guides.

[@AdventureswithRoger]

Thank-you for the compliment! I’m doing a larger segment on the Rockport Pioneer Village. Very cool place that not a lot of people know about. In the 1930’s, a man made a village dedicated to Abraham Lincoln’s life. He even had Lincoln’s sister Sarah’s actual cabin assembled on the premises. There’s also a great museum and film. Anyways, hope to finish it this month. Thanks for watching, much more history to come! If you have a particular Southern Indiana historical subject I haven’t covered, I’d love to hear about it! 🙂

[@porcine83]

Well done.

[@alexgetsout]

I really enjoy your videos of places that I've been to and plan on going, since I live in Southern Indiana. This is one that I am extremely familiar with as I have visited hundreds of times since I was a child as my grandmother lives in Lincoln City, and I used to work for the State Park. An interesting note that many get wrong, while Abraham Lincoln Hall does resemble a chapel, because of the benches and lectern and being used for weddings, it is actually set up to be in the style of town hall from Lincoln's day. Also, while the flagpole is no longer the tallest in Indiana, it IS the tallest on any National Park Service property in the country, and it used to reside on a median with the 162 going on either side of it, before the road was rerouted to go around the memorial instead of directly in front of it. If you stand at the bottom of the flagpole and look up, you will see it is bent from when it was moved!

[@AdventureswithRoger]

This is awesome information, and why I love posting these videos! I’ve been a huge Lincoln fan since childhood, and love whatever insights that viewers provide. Sometimes the videos trigger someone’s memory, and it’s the next best thing to sitting at a table, and talking history among friends. I’ve considered doing a full length video, about Abraham Lincoln’s time in Indiana, and will certainly incorporate your insights if I do. I was amazed at how many people don’t know about his time in Indiana, nor our wonderful monuments.

[@alexgetsout]

@@AdventureswithRoger I'm not sure what the rules are right now with COVID, but if you get a chance to get back to Rockport, go to the library and ask about the historical videos done by Clayton Spurlock (b.1919-d.1993, and my great-great-uncle). He was the Spencer County historian for years, grew up in Lincoln City/Gentryville in the , later lived in Rockport, and made several VHS videos on local history, I am sure there are some great anecdotes and trivia facts that we don't hear as much anymore.

[@AdventureswithRoger]

When I worked with Nancy Kaiser, on the Rockport Lincoln Pioneer Museum segment (2019), she went to the local library and snagged a ton of great info. Hadn’t heard of him though!

[@alexgetsout]

@@AdventureswithRoger He was quite popular when he was alive, as both a barber and local historian, but thats been almost 30 years ago. In his younger days he played dobro and formed a band with one of his brothers and a sister. They won a few contests and even ended up on the Evansville radio station a few times in the 40s. For a while they brought in a girl from the neighboring town of Dale to sing with them, she did alright after she moved away. Her name was Florence Henderson.

[@AdventureswithRoger]

Now THAT is a cool story! I have a few county segments in the works, but afterward want to do one on Southern Indiana celebrities: there are actually quite a few!

[@pesoto74]

I tend to doubt that Lincoln considered himself a Christian. He never said that he was in spite of the fact that it hurt him politically. He did have some kind of spiritual beliefs especially later in his life, however even his friends had a hard time figuring out what those beliefs were.

[@AdventureswithRoger]

Abraham Lincoln was a complex character that’s hard to fit in a box. He did not have a good relationship with his domineering father, whom thought Abe was lazy and wasted time with books and learning. But he made cabinets with his dad, built a church with his dad, and cleared the land with his dad. They were just very different. Abe made fun of traveling preachers, that fit into the same category as his father: stifling. I don’t think he had any interest in organized religion for what he saw as stifling rules. But the strongest impact to his religious beliefs, were the deaths of his Mother and Sister. He never got over either one, and had long periods of depression. I haven’t found any text that indicated he blamed God, or that it made him an atheist. I tend to believe he believed in God, understood the Bible well, but didn’t stick to any preconceived belief system, like others of his day. Would be have called himself a Christian? He seemed to have a genuine faith, at least in the expression of his personal and national values. It just wasn’t attached to the beliefs of a formal congregation. I think it would have been easier to say, “do you believe in the Christian God of the Bible,” and I believe he’d have said, “Yes”. He held long religious conversations with his friend, Bishop Matthew Simpson, the man that ended up doing his eulogy, and there doesn’t seem to have been any contention between the two.

[@Dispatcher-kv2im]

Hi i love your channel and just subscribed. Was wondering if you have ever considered doing an Indiana county courthouse video? That would be awesome! Keep up the great work!🇺🇸

[@AdventureswithRoger]

Hey! Have considered doing one for southern Indiana, as there are some really interesting ones. I once talked briefly to a private investigator, whom has seen a lot of courthouse cases. He said he’s photographed all 92 Indiana courthouses! Here is a great site with snapshots: www.visitindiana.com/blog/post/indianas-92-county-courthouses-favorite/

[@Dispatcher-kv2im]

@@AdventureswithRoger awesome thank you so much!🇺🇸

[@AdventureswithRoger]

@@Dispatcher-kv2im I truly love this stuff! So much to see, so little time. 🙂

[@Dispatcher-kv2im]

@@AdventureswithRoger i totally know what you mean.🇺🇸 doing a video on the state capital building might would be interesting.🇺🇸⭐️ I also have a book on Indiana’s courthouses. I can give you the name of it if you would like. There’s also a KZbin channel called that is interesting and he is doing a series called the u.s. explained and his next video will be on Indiana. Take care and keep up the great work and awesome channel!🎉

[@AdventureswithRoger]

@@Dispatcher-kv2im Curious to see what he’ll say about Indiana, besides Indy 500 / NASCAR, basketball, football, Downtown Indianapolis, and maybe Indy museums. Sometimes they’ll throw in Benjamin Harrison, and monument circle. That’s my biggest gripe about drive-through vloggers: they only reinforce the idea that if you’ve seen downtown Indy, you’ve seen all Indiana has to offer. In 2023, I hope to travel north, film all the major sites, and compile a huge Indiana reel. It’s an aggressive goal, but I’ll see what I can do!