Ford’s Theatre & Petersen House

On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth, actor and Confederate sympathizer, assassinated Abraham Lincoln, as president and Mrs Lincoln watched Our American Cousin in the Presidential Box of Ford’s Theatre. The box remains draped with a period flag to this day. The theater is open during the day to visitors (except during rehearsals or matinee performances), but you’ll need to get a (free) ticket with timed entry from the theater box office; you can also reserve a pass from Ticketmaster (202-397-7328; www.ticketmaster.com) – a surcharge may apply. Check out the Lincoln Museum in the basement, which maps out the assassination’s details and displays related artifacts. After being shot, the unconscious president was carried across the street to die at Petersen House (516 10th St NW), which is also open to the public; its tiny, unassuming rooms create a moving personal portrait of the president’s slow and tragic death. Another assassination-related site is nearby: Surratt House, now the restaurant Wok & Roll (604 H St NW), is where the Lincoln-assassination conspirators met in 1865. Its owner, Confederate spy Mary Surratt, was eventually hanged at Fort McNair.