Baptist Alley

[PaigeBooth]

(12-19-2014 09:13 PM)L Verge Wrote:  

(12-19-2014 04:47 PM)PaigeBooth Wrote:  Baptist Alley is one of my favorite Lincoln Assassination sites to visit in Washington D.C. I have taken the " Detective McDevitt History on Foot" tour given by Ford's. It is a fabulous tour and a great way to experience Baptist Alley. My favorite part of the tour is the walk down Baptist; the tour guide brings it to life. I've taken the tour twice, and would consider taking it again when I'm in D.C.

P.S. I cannot remember where, but I once read that Baptist Alley received its name since Ford's was originally a Baptist Church? Does anyone know if this is true?

Paige - Were you able to take the alley tour back a few years ago when it still had its cobblestones? I felt robbed of a part of the history when they paved everything over in concrete!

There are two places on the Booth Tour where I really felt like the history came alive. One was walking out the back door of the Theatre and into that cobbled and smelly alley. The other is when I stood on the banks of the Potomac at what is now the retreat house and saw the size of the water that I/Booth would have to row across in the dark. If I/Booth didn't, the Union authorities would certainly get me. Talk about being between a rock and a hard place...

The site of the Garrett farm was always anti-climatic to me -- sort of ironical that the man seeking great fame was (as Mike Kauffman used to say) struck in the southbound lanes of Rt. 301 and died in the median strip.

Hi, Laurie,

No, unfortunately Baptist Alley was already paved over with concrete by the time I was there. I would have loved to walk Baptist Alley when it had cobblestones! When was the change made?

My first visit to D.C. and Baptist Alley was the summer of 2013. My mother, grandmother, and I returned for a "girls only trip" this summer of 2014. We revisited Ford's and Baptist Alley and took the "History on Foot" tour again. I love being inside Ford's, and just picturing the way Booth moved through the theatre the night he changed history. We wanted to see Peterson's again, but the lines were extremely long all three days we were there.

Another thing that is sad, is that the Seward House no longer stands. I read that although the house did have a couple owners after the Sewards, there were so many deaths and tragedies in the house, it was torn down since most were superstitious and eventually no one would buy it. Is this true? How great would it be if the house still stood and was open for touring?!

However, we did enjoy a lot of shopping and great restaurants; I love D.C.