This Elizabethtown Parking Space Marks a Surprising Lincoln Family History Site

The Thomas Lincoln and Sarah Bush Johnston marriage site in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, is the kind of historic stop that makes you laugh a little and lean in closer. This is a real piece of Lincoln family history, but today the setting is about as unglamorous as it gets. What happened here mattered. What it looks like now is another story. 

It’s literally a parking spot. We pulled in on a brutally cold winter afternoon while on a road trip to visit Kentucky Historic Sites. I can say with absolute certainty that this stop was far from the largest and most historically significant, and was definitely the most unexpected. 

This site marks the December 2, 1819, marriage of Thomas Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln’s father, and Sarah Bush Johnston. Today, a historic marker explains what happened here, and there is even a cutout of Thomas and Sarah, pictured above.

After Nancy Hanks Lincoln died, Thomas returned to Elizabethtown to court Sarah, his former sweetheart, who had recently been widowed. The two quickly married, and Sarah brought her three children into the family. She would become an important part of Abraham Lincoln’s early life and someone he later remembered with real affection.

What makes this stop so fun is that you are not looking at a grand mansion, a giant monument, or some polished museum experience. You are standing at a humble, easy-to-miss spot tied to one of the most important families in American history. For Abraham Lincoln fans, roadside history lovers, and anyone who enjoys a quirky stop, this is a very memorable one.