Ford's Theatre

Washington, DC: Once one of the top production theaters in DC, Ford’s Theatre became the site of one of the darkest days in American history, the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

Built in 1833, the building was home to the First Baptist Church of Washington. The congregation eventually moved out and in 1861, John Ford purchased the building and turned it into a theater. The theater suffered a fire in 1862 and had to rebuild.

The rebuilt theater was reopened in August of 1863. The theater continued to entertain the citizens of DC, packing the theater full for the presentation. The plays even attracted presidential appeal as President Abraham Lincoln saw the theater as an escape from the stresses of life.

But history forever changed on the night of April 14, 1865. President Lincoln and his wife Mary decided to visit Ford’s Theatre to see the play “Our American Cousin”. The President tried to make a quiet entrance into the theater but when the orchestra saw him enter, the began to play hail to the chief as they made their way to the presidential box.

Meanwhile behind the stage, John Wilkes Booth arrived at the theater and gave his horse to a stagehand and asked him to tend to it until he returned. Booth made his way through the under stage areas of the theater and eventually up to the presidential box. Booth, a famous actor slipped a note to the guard and was granted access to the box. He jammed the inner door and sat there waiting for the right moment. Then during a funny line in the play, Booth broke through the door and shot President Lincoln in the head. Booth jumped from the box onto the stage below and shouted “Sic simper tyrannis” before taking off out the back door.

The President was taken across the street to the Petersen House where he later died from his injuries. Booth escaped DC and headed into Virginia before being caught by the cavalry several days later.

After the assassination, the federal government took over the theater, banning its use as a theater and paying John Ford $100,000 for the property. The government turned the building into an office of the War Department. The War Department used the building in multiple capacities until a collapse in 1893 that killed 22 and injured 68. The building was repaired and used as a warehouse until 1931.

The building remained abandoned until the lobbying of politicians Melvin Hildreth and Milton Young convinced Congress to fund the restoration of the theater. In 1964, Congress approved funding for the restoration of Ford’s Theatre and in 1968 the project was completed.

In 1968, Ford’s Theatre reopened to the public as a theater and a museum. The theater began to produce plays and musicals while the National Park Service ran a museum documenting the assassination of President Lincoln. The theater saw another major renovation and reopened in February 2009.

Today the theater, museum and neighboring Petersen House are part of the Ford’s Theatre Historic Site. The site managed by the National Park Service allows guests to learn about the history surrounding the theatre and the events of the assassination.

For more photos, visit my Ford’s Theatre photo gallery.