Lincoln Flatboat Landing

Location: This marker is located on First Street or River Road below the bluff and along the Ohio River in Rockport, Indiana.

Lincoln Flatboat Landing

This appears on the plaque:
Marking Old Lower Landing
Where in 1828 - Age 19 -
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
with Allen Gentry made his first
flatboat trip to New Orleans. He saw
slaves sold and said, "If I ever get a
chance to hit that thing, I'll hit it hard."
In a very real sense of the word it might be said that
The Emancipation Proclamation which Lincoln
Issued in 1863 owes its origin to this flatboat trip.
This marker erected by the Spencer County Historical
Society and the Rockport City Park Board in 1939

Lincoln Flatboat Landing Lincoln Head

This head of Lincoln is on the side of the stone. The back of the stone has a small marker indicating the height of the 1997 flood.

Lincoln Flatboat Landing Lincoln Name

The above is a close-up of Honig's name on the Lincoln head.

In August, 2008, the renovation of Rocky Side Park was nearly complete and the Spencer County Historical Society decided to have the Lincoln Flatboat Landing plaques cleaned. Nearly 70 years of grime was removed by Grandview Aluminum. Below is a photo of the plaques being reinstalled on the monument.

Grandview Aluminum Employees Reinstalling Plaque

Compare the plaques below with the pictures at the top of the page. The photos below were taken August, 2008.

Grandview Aluminum Employees Reinstalling Plaque

Grandview Aluminum Employees Reinstalling Plaque

As part of the Lincoln Bicentennial Celebration, a flatboat trip is being recreated. Below is a photo of the boat being prepared for the trip that started September 9, 2008.

Grandview Aluminum Employees Reinstalling Plaque

The Spencer County Historical Society paid to have a plaque made to commemorate the 50th anniversary of another flatboat trip made in 1958. It was dedicated at the 2008 launching ceremony on September 9. The plaque is on the south side of the marker above the 1937 flood marker.

Grandview Aluminum Employees Reinstalling Plaque