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NEWS
RELEASE
February 11, 2002
 Abraham
Lincoln's Boyhood Home Preserved by
Citizen Effort
Washington D.C. - The Abraham Lincoln boyhood home at
Knob Creek Hill in Kentucky will become
a part of the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace
National Historic Site, tomorrow on President
Lincoln's birthday. The transfer
ceremony will be held in Hodgenville,
Kentucky. Fran Mainella, the
Director of the National Park Service
will be the keynote speaker at this
historic event.
This 232 acre
addition was made possible by the hard
work of the Preservation of Lincoln's
Kentucky Heritage, Inc. and the National
Park Trust (NPT) working with the
National Park Service.
In 1999, NPT provided a $10,000 grant to obtain an option
agreement on the land in order to
protect it while one million dollars was
raised to purchase the property. The
property, a 232-acre tract of land known
as Knob Hill, is adjacent to the Abraham
Lincoln Birthplace National Historic
Site. The farmhouse that President
Abraham Lincoln grew up on is located on
a 30-acre farm located within the Knob
Hill property. Preservationists sought
to protect the entire area in order to
ensure the integrity of the broader
cultural landscape of which the farm was
a part.
"I am pleased to report that the initial grant of
$10,000 by the National Park Trust has
been leveraged into $992,500 towards the
acquisition of the historic boyhood home
site of Abraham Lincoln," said Carl
Howell Jr., President of Preservation of
Lincoln's Kentucky Heritage, Inc.
"The Abraham Lincoln Birthplace
National Historic Site will be expanded
as a result of legislation authorizing
the National Park Service to accept by
donation from the National Park Trust
the property known as the Abraham
Lincoln Boyhood Home at Knob
Creek."
"We are proud that the property can be added to the
National Park Service, protecting it for
generations to come," said Paul
Pritchard, president of the National
Park Trust. "In December of 2001,
NPT was called upon again for
assistance. NPT donated additional
funds to complete the fundraising effort
to purchase Knob Hill in order to meet
the acquisition deadline. But it
was the local citizens that made it
happen. Kentucky can be proud of its
citizens."
The National Park Trust is the only land
conservancy uniquely dedicated to
preserving America's national system of
parks, wildlife refuges, and historic
monuments.
For more information contact:
National Park Trust (NPT)
(202) 548-0500
npt@parktrust.org
http://www.parktrust.org
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