Lincoln's Birthday 2027 is on Friday

About Lincoln's Birthday

Abraham Lincoln was born in a one-room log cabin on his father's Sinking Spring Farm in Kentucky on Sunday, February 12, 1809. The site, near Hodgenville, is now part of Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park, run by the National Park Service. Lincoln grew up on the frontier in Kentucky and Indiana, settled in Illinois, and was elected president in 1860. He led the country through the Civil War, issued the Emancipation Proclamation and backed the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery before he was assassinated in April 1865.

His birthday has never been a federal holiday. The federal holiday in February is legally named Washington's Birthday and falls on the third Monday of the month; it is widely called Presidents' Day, and many people think of it as honoring Lincoln too. Some states, however, keep February 12 on its own. Illinois, where Lincoln built his career, lists Lincoln's Birthday among its state holidays, and New York counts it as a legal holiday, though for 2026 the state made it a floating holiday for some state employees. Whether offices, schools and banks close depends on the state and the employer.

In Washington, D.C., the day is marked at the Lincoln Memorial. According to the Trust for the National Mall, members of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States resolved after the memorial's 1922 dedication to commemorate Lincoln's birthday there each year. The tradition continues with a public ceremony organized with the National Park Service and the Lincoln Birthday National Commemorative Committee, featuring a reading of the Gettysburg Address and wreaths laid at the foot of the statue.

Sources: National Park Service: Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park, History & Culture, Illinois State Treasurer: State Holidays, New York State Department of Civil Service: 2026 Legal Holidays, Trust for the National Mall: Abraham Lincoln's Birthday Observation at the Lincoln Memorial, 5 U.S.C. 6103: Federal holidays (Cornell Legal Information Institute). How we check dates.

How to mark Lincoln's Birthday

• Read the Gettysburg Address or Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address aloud; each takes only a few minutes.
• Attend the February 12 ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial, or a local event at a Lincoln statue or museum.
• Plan a visit to a Lincoln site, such as his Kentucky birthplace, Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in Indiana or Lincoln Home in Springfield, Illinois.
• Explore digitized Lincoln papers and photographs in the Library of Congress online collections.
• Pick a biography or a children's book about Lincoln and read it together as a family.

Lincoln's Birthday dates