Lincoln Discussion Symposium
Presidents and First Ladies Trivia - Printable Version

+- Lincoln Discussion Symposium (https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium)
+-- Forum: Lincoln Discussion Symposium (/forum-1.html)
+--- Forum: Trivia Questions - all things Lincoln (/forum-8.html)
+--- Thread: Presidents and First Ladies Trivia (/thread-615.html)



RE: Presidents and First Ladies Trivia - Gene C - 10-20-2017 02:34 PM

Is this where Seward had his carriage accident?


RE: Presidents and First Ladies Trivia - RJNorton - 10-20-2017 02:59 PM

That is a very thoughtful guess, Gene, but Seward's carriage accident is not the answer. This historical event came after 1865.


RE: Presidents and First Ladies Trivia - L Verge - 10-20-2017 03:55 PM

19th or 20th century event?


RE: Presidents and First Ladies Trivia - RJNorton - 10-20-2017 04:05 PM

It happened in the 19th century.


RE: Presidents and First Ladies Trivia - L Verge - 10-20-2017 04:42 PM

Pre-CW or Post-CW?


RE: Presidents and First Ladies Trivia - RJNorton - 10-20-2017 05:50 PM

It happened after the Civil War. I believe it's been occasionally mentioned on this forum.


RE: Presidents and First Ladies Trivia - Gene C - 10-20-2017 06:52 PM

Where Grant got his "speeding ticket"?


RE: Presidents and First Ladies Trivia - RJNorton - 10-21-2017 04:50 AM

That is another excellent guess, Gene, but not correct.

Hint #2: Where the man is standing was not in a street when this historical event happened. A building was there where he is standing.


RE: Presidents and First Ladies Trivia - Eva Elisabeth - 10-21-2017 06:49 AM

Garfield assassination?


RE: Presidents and First Ladies Trivia - RJNorton - 10-21-2017 07:17 AM

Excellent, Eva! Yes, according to Louis Picone's The President is Dead! the author is standing on the approximate spot where President James Garfield was shot on July 2, 1881. The shooting occurred in Washington's Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station.

Picone writes:

"After the Union Station opened in 1907, the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station was torn down. In 1936, district city engineers set out to determine the spot where Garfield was shot. Their best estimates placed the shooting at the center of Constitution Avenue NW, approximately 30-40 feet west of the Sixth Street corner. There is no marker at the location today, making the site the only presidential assassination site that is completely unrecognized."


RE: Presidents and First Ladies Trivia - Leon Greene - 10-21-2017 10:43 PM

[attachment=2681]
(10-21-2017 07:17 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Excellent, Eva! Yes, according to Louis Picone's The President is Dead! the author is standing on the approximate spot where President James Garfield was shot on July 2, 1881. The shooting occurred in Washington's Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station.

Picone writes:

"After the Union Station opened in 1907, the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station was torn down. In 1936, district city engineers set out to determine the spot where Garfield was shot. Their best estimates placed the shooting at the center of Constitution Avenue NW, approximately 30-40 feet west of the Sixth Street corner. There is no marker at the location today, making the site the only presidential assassination site that is completely unrecognized."

Earlier, a tiny marker was indeed erected in memory of President Garfield's 1881 assassination. In the waiting room of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Terminal in Washington, D.C., a bronze star on the floor of the terminal marked the spot where Charles Guiteau had shot President James Garfield, and a marble tablet on the adjacent wall commemorated the event. Train passengers apparently disliked the reminder of the tragedy that had occurred on this spot, and after a minor fire in the terminal on March 4, 1897, both the star and the plaque were removed, never to be restored to their original locations. With the demolition of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Terminal after its closure in 1907, the assassination site's precise location became obscured.

I've attempted (maybe unsuccessfully) to attach a photo of the memorial. It can be seen at http://civilwarwashingtondc1861-1865.blogspot.com/2012/07/unmarked-site-of-july-2-1881.html


RE: Presidents and First Ladies Trivia - Steve - 10-22-2017 02:38 AM

That's a really interesting blog post you linked to. Thanks, Leon.


RE: Presidents and First Ladies Trivia - Eva Elisabeth - 10-22-2017 03:35 PM

(10-21-2017 07:17 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Excellent, Eva! Yes, according to Louis Picone's The President is Dead! the author is standing on the approximate spot where President James Garfield was shot on July 2, 1881. The shooting occurred in Washington's Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station.

Picone writes:

"After the Union Station opened in 1907, the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station was torn down. In 1936, district city engineers set out to determine the spot where Garfield was shot. Their best estimates placed the shooting at the center of Constitution Avenue NW, approximately 30-40 feet west of the Sixth Street corner. There is no marker at the location today, making the site the only presidential assassination site that is completely unrecognized."
Isn't the West Building of the National Gallery of Art on that site today?


RE: Presidents and First Ladies Trivia - RJNorton - 10-22-2017 03:59 PM

(10-22-2017 03:35 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Isn't the West Building of the National Gallery of Art on that site today?

Yes, very close.

"And as a result, we don’t know the precise location of the shooting anymore, but I came as close as one can get these days. The railroad station stood at the southwest corner of Constitution Avenue and 6th Street, northwest. Today that intersection runs between the Newseum and the National Gallery of Art’s West Building."

http://www.bradycarlson.com/the-james-a-garfield-assassination-spot-is-right-about-here/


RE: Presidents and First Ladies Trivia - Leon Greene - 10-22-2017 03:59 PM

(10-22-2017 03:35 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  
(10-21-2017 07:17 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Excellent, Eva! Yes, according to Louis Picone's The President is Dead! the author is standing on the approximate spot where President James Garfield was shot on July 2, 1881. The shooting occurred in Washington's Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station.

Picone writes:

"After the Union Station opened in 1907, the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station was torn down. In 1936, district city engineers set out to determine the spot where Garfield was shot. Their best estimates placed the shooting at the center of Constitution Avenue NW, approximately 30-40 feet west of the Sixth Street corner. There is no marker at the location today, making the site the only presidential assassination site that is completely unrecognized."
Isn't the West Building of the National Gallery of Art on that site today?

An excellent graphic of today's buildings superimposed on the city's street map in the 1880s can be found at: https://matthewbgilmore.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/garfieldassassinationspot.jpg