Illinois is known as the “Land of Lincoln,” but America’s 16th president spent most of his youth in Indiana.

From 1816 to 1830, Lincoln lived with his parents on the farm this is now the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial. His mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, died and is buried here. Her grave lies near the 120-foot flagpole—the tallest in the state.

The visitor center includes a museum to the president. The Lincoln Living Historical Farm has been refurbished to appear as it would have during Lincoln’s youth. Split-rail fences border the animal pens. Rangers dressed in early 19th-century garb feed the animals and tend to the vegetable garden.

Watch demonstrations of the chores young Abe would have done every day. Milking cows, sharpening tools, chopping wood. Tour the homestead, a replica of the home the Lincolns lived in.

In the 1930s, hearthstones from one of Lincoln’s log cabins were unearthed by Civilian Conservation Corps workers. The Lincoln Cabin Site Memorial features a bronze cast of logs and a fireplace from one of these homes.

Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial offers insight into the people and the environment that shaped the future president.

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