In the sesquicentennial year of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, a group of ladies formed the Lincoln Club of Southern Indiana with the primary purpose of studying and preserving the history of Lincoln’s formative years spent in Spencer County.

The Lincoln Club decided to present a play about Lincoln’s life in Spencer County.

Lincoln Boyhood Drama Association (LBDA) formed. A bill was introduced in the Indiana State Legislature by Representative Mike Phillips to fund a $1 million amphitheatre in Lincoln State Park.

Lincoln Club and LBDA members educated themselves by attending meetings of the Institute of Outdoor Dramas.

The Lincoln Club chose Billy Edd Wheeler as a playwright.

The amphitheatre’s site in Lincoln State Park was selected.

The Indiana State Legislature passed legislation with $3.3 million in funding for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources to construct an amphitheatre inside Lincoln State Park. A $600,000 fundraising campaign was launched.

• Lilly Endowment, Inc., donated a $150,000 matching grant to LBDA.
• Governor Robert Orr held a special ground breaking ceremony.

• Rehearsals begin (May)
• Young Abe Lincoln premieres in June.

The Lincoln Amphitheatre presented Young Abe Lincoln from 1987-1991.

• Lincoln: Upon the Altar of Freedom

• The Wizard of Oz
• Our American Cousin
• Abraham Lincoln in Song feat. Chris Vallillo and Rocky Maffit
  

The Lincoln Amphitheatre begins the year dark. In July, the Indiana Office of Tourism Development (IOTD) assumes day-to-day management of the Lincoln Amphitheatre and begins the process of bringing the venue back up.

On October 24, the newly-managed amphitheatre holds its first event: A tribute to the Beatles paired with a tribute to the Rolling Stones.

The Indiana Office of Tourism Development becomes the newly incorporated Indiana Destination Development Corporation. The Lincoln Amphitheatre remains under its umbrella. 

Mostly a dark year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Amphitheatre utilized its most unique characteristics (open air, large seating capacity) to hold a number of limited capacity rental events. Additionally, Amp Unplugged events were first introduced, hosting limited capacity acoustic events with Chris Shaffer (of The Why Store), Adam Hood, Paul McDonald (American Idol), and Carolina Story.

Additionally, limited capacity events were held in tribute to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame artists, a Will Read and Sing for Food fundraising event, an acoustic James Taylor tribute, as well as an anniversary showing of The Goonies.