Hodgenville sits at the far end of KY 61 from Interstate 65 at Elizabethtown, and most people who know it know it for one reason: Abraham Lincoln was born a few miles outside town. If you buy, build or run a business in this part of Kentucky, there is more to it than that. This guide covers Hodgenville KY commercial real estate and the rest of LaRue County the way we see it from the Elizabethtown side: where commercial property sits, who it serves, what the local process looks like, and what is on the market right now.
Hodgenville at a glance
Hodgenville is the county seat of LaRue County. The U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 estimates put the city at 3,378 residents and the county at 15,184 as of July 1, 2025, up from an estimates base of 3,347 and 14,869 at the 2020 census (Census Bureau city and town population totals). That is a small town with slow, steady growth, not a boom market, and it should be underwritten that way.
What makes it worth a look is position. Hodgenville is the next county seat down the road from Elizabethtown and the Hardin County job base, and it sits on the routes travelers use to reach the Lincoln sites. Buyers who already know Hardin County, which we cover in our Hardin County commercial real estate market report, often look at LaRue County next for lower basis and less competition for small sites.
Lincoln tourism and the downtown square
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park is the county’s anchor attraction. The National Park Service’s annual park ranking reports list 212,899 recreation visits in 2025, after 249,166 in 2024 and 239,950 in 2023 (NPS Visitor Use Statistics). The park has two units: the Birthplace Unit on US 31E south of town and the Boyhood Home Unit at Knob Creek, northeast of town on the same highway.
Downtown, Lincoln Square is a traffic circle around a small park with bronze statues of Lincoln as a boy and as a man. The buildings that face the square are classic Kentucky courthouse-town storefronts. For a buyer, the square is a street-retail and office play: restaurants, specialty retail, professional offices and upper-floor space. Visitor traffic helps, but it is seasonal, so plan the rent roll around year-round local customers and treat the tourist trade as upside.
Under the joint zoning ordinance, the core falls in the Central Business District (B-1), which permits retail, professional offices and personal services, and allows dwelling units on the second floor of existing commercial buildings. Drive-through facilities and service stations are conditional uses there, not by-right, which matters if you are thinking about a quick-service or fuel concept on the square.
US 31E and KY 61: where commercial goes
Three roads shape the commercial map. KY 61, the Lincoln Parkway, is the four-lane link to Elizabethtown. The National Park Service routes visitors from I-65 Exit 91 down KY 61 for 13 miles to US 31E, then 1.3 miles south on US 31E to the Birthplace Unit (NPS directions). US 31E runs through town between Bardstown to the northeast and Glasgow to the south. KY 210 heads southeast toward Campbellsville, with the short KY 1618 connector tying it to US 31E.
Highway-oriented uses (convenience stores, fuel, auto service, quick-service food, small strip centers) look for frontage where those routes come together and on the KY 61 and US 31E approaches. Those sites usually fall in the Highway Business District (B-3). Before you price frontage, pull the actual daily counts from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Our guide to Kentucky traffic counts for commercial property walks through how to find and read them. Entrances on state routes need a KYTC encroachment permit, so confirm access before you commit to a site plan.
Healthcare and senior-care properties
Small-town healthcare real estate turns over less often than retail, and when it does it is usually an older purpose-built building that needs a second life. That is the situation with the former Sunrise Manor nursing home at 80 Phillips Lane in Hodgenville, which our team has listed. Per the listing, the building totals about 40,000 square feet on 3.45 acres with parking, built in 1967, with a 7,400 square foot section renovated in 2021 and ready to occupy. The listing notes commercial zoning that supports multiple uses, and it is pitched to owner-occupants who want a headquarters or medical office with room to grow, and to investors who can lease the balance.
If you are looking at a former care facility for a care use again, start early with the state. Nursing facility beds in Kentucky run through the Certificate of Need process, and licensing sits with the state, not the city. Other buyers look at these buildings for office, clinic, training or residential conversion, each of which brings its own zoning and building-code questions.
Land and small industrial sites
Most of LaRue County outside Hodgenville is farmland in the Agricultural (A-1) district. The ordinance provides Light Industrial (I-1) and Heavy Industrial (I-2) districts, so a contractor yard, small manufacturer or storage operator has a path, but expect most raw land to need a map amendment before it can be used commercially.
Price land on what it can become and how long it takes to get there. Road frontage, utilities and the rezoning risk will move value more than the per-acre figure on the last farm sale. If you need a number before you list or buy, our piece on commercial property appraisal in Kentucky explains when you need an appraisal and when a broker opinion of value will do.
Working with LaRue County planning and PVA
Zoning in Hodgenville and unincorporated LaRue County runs through one body, the Land of Lincoln Planning and Zoning Commission, under a joint ordinance revised in April 2024 (LaRue County government). The commission meets at the LaRue County Courthouse at 209 West High Street. Rezoning and subdivision applications are due ahead of each meeting, and the county posts those deadlines with the meeting notices. Conditional use permits and variances go to the commission’s Board of Adjustment.
The LaRue County Property Valuation Administrator, also in the courthouse, keeps the assessed values, parcel maps and ownership records. Pull the PVA card on any property you are serious about: acreage, owner of record, assessment history and recent transfers. Pair it with a deed check at the County Clerk before you make an offer.
Current listings in LaRue County
Inventory in a county this size is thin, and good sites often trade before they are widely marketed. You can see our active commercial listings, including the former Sunrise Manor property, on our listings page. For residential and lot listings in and around Hodgenville, browse homes and land for sale in the LaRue County area. If you are comparing LaRue County with sites closer to I-65, our Elizabethtown commercial real estate guide covers the market just up KY 61.
Own property in LaRue County and want to know what it is worth today? Send us a property valuation request through our contact page with the address and a line about your plans. We will pull the PVA record, the zoning and the comparable sales and come back with a clear number. The Action Advisors team