Visit to DC

[Brian]

I live in California and am interested in Lincoln and the events surrounding the assassination. I am leaving today to visit DC and was looking for some assassination related things to see.

I have visited Ford's many times, and had my trip all planned out to go to The Surratt and Mudd houses, but just found out the Mudd house won't be open for another month, so I'm trying to get some other plans together. I am planning to find the card Booth left for Andrew Johnson, but I'm sure there are tons of things I should be looking for Booth related around DC. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Brian

[L Verge]

I live in California and am interested in Lincoln and the events surrounding the assassination. I am leaving today to visit DC and was looking for some assassination related things to see.

I have visited Ford's many times, and had my trip all planned out to go to The Surratt and Mudd houses, but just found out the Mudd house won't be open for another month, so I'm trying to get some other plans together. I am planning to find the card Booth left for Andrew Johnson, but I'm sure there are tons of things I should be looking for Booth related around DC. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Brian

Please still try to come to Surratt House! We are open for guided tours Wed-Friday from 11 to 3 (last tour begins at 2:30) and weekends from 12-4 (last tour at 3:30). We are just 14 miles from Ford's Theatre, if you have a car, and just 3 miles from the Branch Avenue Metro (it's take a cab after that).

Make sure to visit Wok 'n Roll restaurant at 604 H Street in Chinatown. That is Mrs. Surratt's old boardinghouse, and the food is usually good.

Of course, at Ford's Theatre, they will direct you across the street to the Petersen House and the adjacent Education Center.

The Seward Home is no longer on Lafayette Square, but there are some historical houses such as Decatur House and the White House Historical Association is housed in one.

[John Fazio]

I live in California and am interested in Lincoln and the events surrounding the assassination. I am leaving today to visit DC and was looking for some assassination related things to see.

I have visited Ford's many times, and had my trip all planned out to go to The Surratt and Mudd houses, but just found out the Mudd house won't be open for another month, so I'm trying to get some other plans together. I am planning to find the card Booth left for Andrew Johnson, but I'm sure there are tons of things I should be looking for Booth related around DC. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Brian

Brian:

In addition to Ford's Theatre, see:

1. The Surratt boarding house, though there isn't much to see apart from the exterior structure and a historical marker. The lower level is now occupied by a Chinese restaurant.
2. The Petersen House, across the street from Ford's.
3. The U.S. Soldiers' Home
4. Ft. Leslie McNair and the courtroom where the trial of the conspirators was held, if you can get in.
5. Statues of Lincoln at:
a. The Department of the Interior Courtyard
b. The Lincoln Memorial
c. The National Cathedral
d. The Old City Hall
6. Robert Todd Lincoln's grave in Arlington (Sec. 31, Grave 13)
7. Charles Forbes's grave in Congressional Cemetery (Range 34, Site 76)
8. David Herold's grave in Congressional Cemetery (Range 46, Site 44)
9. Edwin Stanton's grave in Oak Hill Cemetery (Lot 675)

Have a nice time.

John

[SSlater]

I live in California and am interested in Lincoln and the events surrounding the assassination. I am leaving today to visit DC and was looking for some assassination related things to see.

I have visited Ford's many times, and had my trip all planned out to go to The Surratt and Mudd houses, but just found out the Mudd house won't be open for another month, so I'm trying to get some other plans together. I am planning to find the card Booth left for Andrew Johnson, but I'm sure there are tons of things I should be looking for Booth related around DC. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Brian

Brian. You said you have been here before - however. GET A GOOD MAP OF THIS AREA. You might not be able to go EVERYWHERE, but you might go past someplace of interest or not get to someplace. Mark every where you have been, or wish to go.. For example Mark the soldiers Home- mark the Navy Yard bridge - mark the Benning Bridge - Mark the Congressional cemetery etc. etc. etc. You might get a Glance at some place where you cant stop - BUT YOU HAVE SEEN IT. It will give you a good idea how far it was for them to move about. (They didn't have the subway back then). Also, you might be standing right in front of what you are looking for - and didn't know it.
I'm stupid in strange places. I get so anxious to see everything- I don't see anything. Set up a plan for the MUST SEE ITMS, and hope for more. GOOD LUCK!

[Jim Garrett]

Don't forget Lafayette Square. You have of course, the White House. 712 Jackson Place is the home Henry Rathbone purchased in 1867. By 1874 he outgrew that home and moved across Lafayette Square to Madison Place. His (and Clara's) home is right next to the Dolly Madison home. That home shows Rathbone's wealth. 2 doors down is the US Court of Appeals, where the Seward house was. The alley between the US Chamber of Commerce building and the Hay-Adams Hotel is the approximate location of the Slidell house where Gideon Welles lived. The Decatur House was occupied by Judah Benjamin before he "went South". You also have the Blair house. Grab lunch at Wok N Roll and/or Old Ebbitt Grill. The Robert Todd Lincoln home 3014 N St NW in Georgetown was later home of Washington Post Editor in Chief Ben Bradlee.

Don't forget Congressional Cemetery.

[Dennis Urban]

Lincoln's summer cottage at the Soldier's Home is well worth the trip uptown. Check tour dates and times. Cottage is restored to much the same as when Lincoln was there including the straw mat rugs. One cal almost feel his presence in some of the rooms. Docents are excellent at advising what is original to the home. Having your hand slide along on the same bannister as did Lincoln's is worth the price of admission.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Lincoln's summer cottage at the Soldier's Home is well worth the trip uptown. Check tour dates and times. Cottage is restored to much the same as when Lincoln was there including the straw mat rugs. One cal almost feel his presence in some of the rooms. Docents are excellent at advising what is original to the home. Having your hand slide along on the same bannister as did Lincoln's is worth the price of admission.

I absolutely agree. It's a genuine and quiet place - other than e.g. Ford's, and while the latter is an unquestionable must-see, I "felt" more in touch with the past and the Lincoln's at the Soldiers Home, and the place more touching - more even than the overcrowded Petersen House, where being pushed through by the flowing mass didn't allow to spend time on emotions.
What a pity you can't see the Mudd House - it conveyed that authentic feeling of the past days, events and protagonists, too. The entire Escape Route Tour did - if you get the chance sometime to participate, don't miss it!

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Forgot: The Surratt House, of course, is well worth the visit "alone" - and the guides are most knowledgeable (while at "the theater" I witnessed some faux-pas). Be prepared you will want to purchase a lot at the House's bookstore.