This log cabin was Abraham Lincoln's boyhood home. It was built on 30 rented acres at Knob Creek Farm by Thomas Lincoln, Abraham's father. Young Abe lived there until 1816, when he was almost 8. The Lincoln family then moved to Indiana. "His early experiences here," states the park's website, "helped mold a young boy into the man who became the nation's 16th president."
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park
2995 Lincoln Farm Road
Hodgenville, Kentucky 42748
270-358-3137
nps.gov
The log homes sitting on Constitution Square helped bring the state of Kentucky into being. Ten constitutional conventions that led to Kentucky's statehood took place in and near these buildings. The site includes a pre-1792 post office (the first west of the Alleghenies) and replicas of an early meetinghouse, courthouse and jail. Isaac Shelby, a Revolutionary War hero, convention delegate and first governor of Kentucky, is buried on his former estate, about 5 miles south of this historic site.
Constitution Square State Historic Site
134 South Second Street
Danville, KY 40422-1880
859-239-7089
parks.ky.gov
This is a replica cabin, erected on the site of the first log cabin ever built in Kentucky. The builder was Dr. Thomas Walker, a physician, surveyor and agent for the Loyal Land Company of Virginia. Walker led the first expedition through the Cumberland Gap to find land for settlement in 1750--17 years before Daniel Boone ever set foot in Kentucky. The Cumberland River, so named by the intrepid doctor, flows nearby.
Dr. Thomas Walker State Historic Site
4929 KY Route 459
Barbourville, KY 40906-9603
606-546-4400
parks.ky.gov
According to the Kentucky State Parks Department, this is the state's second oldest log meeting house. Originally called the Mill Creek Baptist Church, it was established in 1804 by a small band of pioneer Baptists from the Carolinas, led by Philip Mulkey. Many Revolutionary War soldiers and pioneers, including Daniel Boone's sister, Hannah, are buried here.
Old Mulkey State Historic Site
38 Old Mulkey Park Road
Tompkinsville, KY 42167-8766
270-487-8481
parks.ky.gov
The Patterson Cabin, located at Broadway and Third on Transylvania University's campus in downtown Lexington, was built around 1783 by one of Lexington's founders, Robert Patterson.
Transylvania University
300 North Broadway
Lexington, KY 40508
859-233-8300
transy.edu
Visit Cook's Cabin, situated on a private farm in Franklin County, on the banks of Elkhorn Creek. According to the website, the last battle in Kentucky involving Indians--the so-called "Indian Massacre of Hosea and Jesse Cook"--was fought here on April 28,1792. The legend relates that the wives of the slain Cook brothers fought off a band of 100 Indians here.
Charlie Cook
ancestorstories.org
Be sure to stop at the historic town of Washington, where several of the 119 log cabins that formed Kentucky's largest frontier settlement in 1790 survive today in splendid condition. Costumed guides conduct tours--including a "Log Cabin Learning" tour--throughout the village.
Historic Washington Visitor's Center
P. O. Box 227
Washington, KY 41096-0227
606-759-7411
washingtonky.com
Finally, if you are hankering to live in a genuine, historic Kentucky "dogtail" log home, vintage 1790, there is one to be had in Shepherdsville--for a quarter of a million dollars.
Ky Home Realty
1444 North Third Street
Bardstown KY,40004
502-348-6997
kyhomerealty.com
