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Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic SiteA picture of visitors talking with a park guide at the Boyhood Home Unit at Knob Creek
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Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site
Lincoln Logs
Children of all ages enjoy playing with Lincoln Logs
Children have enjoyed playing with Lincoln for over ninety years.

Lincoln Logs were first produced sometime between 1916 and 1917 by John Lloyd Wright, son of the notable architect Frank Lloyd Wright. They are toys consisting of notched miniature logs, about 1-2 cm in diameter. In addition, a Lincoln Logs set has windows and doors to make the building more realistic. More modern sets also come with figures of humans and animals that match the scale of the building. The logs can easily produce a structure resembling a log cabin, hence the association with President Lincoln who grew up in a log cabin in Kentucky and Indiana.

Records show that the J. L. Wright Company of Chicago, Illinois, obtained a patent for the design on August 31, 1920 and had the Lincoln Logs name registered on August 28, 1923. Building logs of similar designs had been produced by several other toy companies since the civil war but John L. Wright's version was very successful from the beginning and has remained so to this day.

A picture of a certificate received by those who made donations to the Lincoln Farm Association  

Did You Know?
Over 120,000 people donated around $350,000 to the Lincoln Farm Association to help build the Memorial Building and for the development of the birthplace site. These funds were obtained by popular subscription from citizens of the north and south, businesses, banks, and especially school children.

Last Updated: January 10, 2007 at 16:12 EST