Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial

Regions 3, 4, 5 Park Cultural Landscapes Program

Located in south central Indiana, the 200-acre Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial contains an approximately 100-acre commemorative landscape that is significant as both a designed landscape and a historic site. The commemoration was initially designed to recognize Abraham Lincoln’s mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, who died when Lincoln was a boy. Commemoration began most fervently after Lincoln’s death and transformed over time with fluctuations in ownership and availability of funding. Impromptu memorials continued to mark the site until 1927 when a more formal design was commissioned by the Indiana Lincoln Union, an organization composed of public and private community leaders. Prior to designation as a unit of the National Park System, the commemorative landscape - then called the “Nancy Hanks Lincoln Memorial” - was part of the larger Lincoln State Park. These coexisting landscapes provided various opportunities for reflection and active recreation. The preliminary conceptual plan, designed by noted landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., provided a primary vista in the form of an allee and used the old state highway to create a cross-axis. This cruciform arrangement organized the site and established circulation patterns within the memorial for pedestrian and vehicular traffic. The north/south axis runs between the memorial building and the pioneer cemetery, helping to emphasize the contemplative processional nature of the site. The simplicity and strength of the design was reinforced by the use of local materials that connected Lincoln to his pioneer upbringing and to this geographic part of Indiana. Gravel trails continue beyond the cemetery, through the restored forest, and to the cabin site memorial. State and local designers contributed to the evolution of the site’s construction; still, despite the multiple sources of input, the design remained true to Olmsted’s initial concept of simplicity and solemnity. The restored forest was proposed as part of the Olmsted concept. Prior to the formal memorial, the site was located in the village of Lincoln City and was surrounded by agricultural land that had been denuded through its use. The design proposed restoring the forest in order to create a symbolic “pioneer forest” that would frame the cemetery and represent the conditions under which the pioneers struggled. The forest was planned as mixed hardwoods of oak and hickory, but it is now variable in species with a predominance of honeysuckle and sugar maple. There is an ongoing effort to improve the composition of the forest. The period of significance for the Memorial begins in 1927, with the initial conceptual design by Olmsted, and extends through 1945 when construction of the memorial building was completed. The landscape embodies the distinctive construction associated with Frederick Olmsted, Jr. It is also significant for associations with Lincoln and as the site of cooperative projects carried out under New Deal programs. The cultural landscape currently has medium to high integrity with some loss occurring after administration by the National Park Service (NPS). The most significant losses occurred in the 1960s when the memorial building was enclosed to create the visitor center. Also, relocation of the highway diminished the impact of the axial organization. Beyond the boundaries, the park is bordered on three sides by developed agricultural land and buffered to the south by forested state park land. Overall, the commemorative landscape at Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial retains the features of the designed landscape associated with the period of significance. The overall spatial organization, significant structures, and the associated forest continue to provide visitors an opportunity to move though the designed landscape and contemplate its development, as well as consider the pioneer contributions of the Lincoln family in Indiana.

Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial

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