About Us:

    In 1780, a group of pioneers ventured into what is now LaRue County, and established Phillip's Fort along the Nolin River. The fort served to protect a mill on the river built by Robert Hodgen in 1788. Among Hodgen's early customers were Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, parents of the future president. In 1818, Hodgen's widow, Sarah, petitioned the courts to establish a town near the area of the mill, to be called Hodgenville. The town officially incorporated as a city in 1839, and became the county seat of LaRue County when it was set off from nearby Hardin County in 1843.

Towards the end of the 19th century, national attention focused on Hodgenville as the place of Lincoln's birth. The Lincoln Farm Association, composed of such noted people as Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), Robert Collier, and William Howard Taft, purchased Lincoln's birthplace in 1906 "for the purpose of honoring and perpetuating the memory of Abraham Lincoln." The group eventually raised $350,000 to build an appropriate memorial to our nation's 16th President, which stands today on the Sinking Spring Farm as a testament to their respect for Lincoln. In 1909, during the Centennial or 100th year of Lincoln's birth, local, state and national leaders raised funds to place a statue of Lincoln by noted New York sculptor Adolph A. Weinman on Hodgenville's town square. Now, almost 100 years after the statue was dedicated, it remains a symbol of the town's pride in its most famous native son, and is a popular spot for souvenir photos.