Ford's Theatre National Historic Site, Washington, DC (3)
**Ford's Theatre National Historic Site** - National Register of Historic Places Ref # 66000034, date listed 10/15/1966
10th St., NW., between E and F Sts.
Washington, DC (District of Columbia)
Ford's Theatre is significant because it was the location of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln on the night of April 14, 1865, while the President and Mrs. Lincoln were attending a performance of the play, "Our American Cousin." Actor John Wilkes Booth, in this first assassination of an American president, removed Lincoln's effective leadership at a very crucial moment at the end of the American Civil War.
Lincoln's successor attempted to carry out his predecessor's magnanimous policies toward the defeated south only to be overwhelmed by the Radical Republicans in Congress who demanded severe treatment for the former Confederate States. This policy of Military Reconstruction in turn augmented generations of bitterness between the two sections of the country.
The old Ford's Theatre building was first constructed as the First Baptist Church in 1833. In 1859 the structure was abandoned as a place of worship, and in 1861 John T. Ford, a theatre entrepreneur from Baltimore, leased the building for five years with an option to buy after that time. Despite a prediction by a member of the church board of a dire fate for anyone who turned the former house of, worship into a theatre, Ford commenced theatrical performances. In 1862 Ford renovated the theatre and called it Ford's Atheneum. On December 30, 1862, the theatre burned to the ground leaving only blackened walls.
In 1863 a more elaborate edifice was constructed to replace the burned out church building, and on August 27, 1863, Ford reopened Ford's New Theatre. A three story brick addition to the south was constructed in 1863, which became the Star Saloon and restaurant. Lincoln had attended Ford's Theatre eight times up to 1865.
In 1933, the Ford's Theatre building was turned over to the Department of the Interior and in 1932 the Lincoln Museum was opened on the third floor with the Oldroyd Collection being brought over from the Petersen House. (1)
References (1) NRHP Nomination Form s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg...
Ford's Theatre National Historic Site, Washington, DC (3)
**Ford's Theatre National Historic Site** - National Register of Historic Places Ref # 66000034, date listed 10/15/1966
10th St., NW., between E and F Sts.
Washington, DC (District of Columbia)
Ford's Theatre is significant because it was the location of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln on the night of April 14, 1865, while the President and Mrs. Lincoln were attending a performance of the play, "Our American Cousin." Actor John Wilkes Booth, in this first assassination of an American president, removed Lincoln's effective leadership at a very crucial moment at the end of the American Civil War.
Lincoln's successor attempted to carry out his predecessor's magnanimous policies toward the defeated south only to be overwhelmed by the Radical Republicans in Congress who demanded severe treatment for the former Confederate States. This policy of Military Reconstruction in turn augmented generations of bitterness between the two sections of the country.
The old Ford's Theatre building was first constructed as the First Baptist Church in 1833. In 1859 the structure was abandoned as a place of worship, and in 1861 John T. Ford, a theatre entrepreneur from Baltimore, leased the building for five years with an option to buy after that time. Despite a prediction by a member of the church board of a dire fate for anyone who turned the former house of, worship into a theatre, Ford commenced theatrical performances. In 1862 Ford renovated the theatre and called it Ford's Atheneum. On December 30, 1862, the theatre burned to the ground leaving only blackened walls.
In 1863 a more elaborate edifice was constructed to replace the burned out church building, and on August 27, 1863, Ford reopened Ford's New Theatre. A three story brick addition to the south was constructed in 1863, which became the Star Saloon and restaurant. Lincoln had attended Ford's Theatre eight times up to 1865.
In 1933, the Ford's Theatre building was turned over to the Department of the Interior and in 1932 the Lincoln Museum was opened on the third floor with the Oldroyd Collection being brought over from the Petersen House. (1)
References (1) NRHP Nomination Form s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg...