The Lincoln Marriage Temple

A Landmark of Love, Legacy, and Kentucky History

The Lincoln Marriage Temple at Old Fort Harrod State Park is one of Kentucky’s most treasured historic landmarks—an elegant brick structure built in 1931 to preserve the log cabin where Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, parents of Abraham Lincoln, were married on June 12, 1806. The cabin, known in pioneer days as the Richard Berry Cabin, was central to the early life of the Lincoln family and remains an enduring symbol of Kentucky’s frontier heritage.

Though the Temple resembles a small church from the outside, its interior houses no pews or pulpit. Instead, it protects the historic marriage cabin itself, carefully relocated to Harrodsburg in 1913 and later enclosed within the Temple to safeguard it for future generations.

The Temple’s creation was driven by local residents who wished to honor the Lincoln family’s Kentucky roots. Harrodsburg holds a unique connection to the Lincolns: Rev. Jesse Head, the Methodist minister who performed the marriage, lived and is buried here, making the city a natural home for this important piece of American history.

Dedicated on June 12, 1931, by U.S. Secretary of Labor William Nuckles Doak, the Lincoln Marriage Temple stands today as part of the Kentucky Lincoln Heritage Trail—a destination for travelers, educators, families, and history enthusiasts seeking to explore the remarkable story of Abraham Lincoln’s beginnings.

Visitors stepping inside the Temple experience a rare opportunity: to stand before the cabin where a young frontier couple took vows that would lead, two generations later, to the birth of one of America’s most influential presidents.