Ford’s Theater in Washington, DC, is famous as the site of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Originally a church, it was converted into a theater by John T. Ford in 1861. After the assassination, the US government paid Ford $100,000 to take control of the theater. Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth during a production of Our American Cousin and died the next day in the Petersen House across the street. The theater fell into disrepair but was eventually restored and now hosts performances and exhibits related to Lincoln’s life and death.
Although Ford’s Theater was a fully functioning theater for many decades, it is best known as the site of the assassination of US President Abraham Lincoln. The theater, located in Washington, DC, has gone through many incarnations as a theater, office space, warehouse, and still as a theater, as it is today. Ford’s Theater is preserved as a Ford’s Theater National Historic Site, along with the Petersen House across the street, where Abraham Lincoln died after being rushed from the theater.
Originally a Baptist church, Ford’s Theater came about after John T. Ford purchased the building in 1861 and remodeled it into theater space. The building eventually burned down and was renovated, and the space was well known as a wonderful place to see a theater production. Shortly after the assassination, the US government paid Ford $100,000 United States Dollars (USD) to take control of the theater so that the building would not be used for public entertainment following the assassination.
Some of the details regarding the assassination are still debated, but the general course of events is undisputed. Shortly after the surrender of the Confederate Army on April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln and his wife went to Ford’s Theater to see a production of Our American Cousin. They sat in a box above the stage. Actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth had planned an attack not only on Lincoln but also on Secretary of State William Seward and Vice President Andrew Johnson. The larger plot failed, as Booth’s conspirators were unsuccessful, but Booth managed to find his way into the president’s box at Ford’s Theater and shoot the president in the back of the head with a derringer pistol.
President Lincoln was rushed from the theater and taken to the Petersen House across the street, which is also part of Ford’s Theater National Historic Site. Lincoln fought through the night and died the next day in the Petersen House. For several decades afterward, the theater lay unused and fell into disrepair. The US government eventually began using the space as an office building for various government departments. After part of the building collapsed, killing several employees, the building was used simply as a storage warehouse for several decades.
Several restoration efforts revived the theater, and another restoration of the space took place during the early 2000s. The theater now hosts performances again and also contains items relating to Lincoln’s life and death, including Booth’s pistol, Lincoln’s coat, and the pillow Lincoln rested his head on as he died.
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