America's transfer from civil war to peace was made more difficult on April 14, 1865, when Abraham Lincoln was shot and killed, just five days after General Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House. A well-known actor, John Wilkes Booth, desperate to aid the dying Confederacy, stepped into the president's box.

Booth's decision to pull the trigger altered the nation's power to reconstruct after the war. Booth escaped into the night as Abraham Lincoln was carried to the Petersen boarding house across the street. It was there that President Lincoln died early the next morning, and became the first American president to be assassinated.

Explore Ford's Theatre National Historic Site and discover some of the motivations behind this tragic act and its impact on a nation trying to heal.

 Directions 

Plane - BWI, Dulles, and National Airports serve the Washington, DC metro area. National Airport is the closest and is served by Metrorail.

Car - Parking is severly limited in the downtown area. Ford's Theatre is located near the intersection of 10th and E Streets in the northwest section of the city. It is a block north of the FBI building on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Bus - "The District of Columbia, the U.S. General Services Administration and the Downtown Improvement District are working to improve the 10th Street corridor for both pedestrians and vehicles. The project includes sidewalk repairs and crosswalk improvements, new street lights, and roadway resurfacing. During this construction period, all tour buses must drop-off and pick-up in one of three alternate areas: E Street, F Street or 10th Street north of F Street. No drop-off or pick-up will be allowed on 10th Street in front of the Theatre, and this section of 10th Street will be closed to all traffic during some phases of the