Petersen House - Washington, D.C.

The Petersen House is located on 10th Street in Washington, D.C., directly opposite Ford's Theatre.  It was here that Abraham Lincoln died on April 15, 1865.  The previous evening the president and his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, had been attending a performance of Our American Cousin when, shortly before 10:30, he was shot in the back of the head by actor turned assassin John Wilkes Booth. Although he was examined by several doctors during the night, it was soon determined that his wound was terminal.  Booth escaped and the mortally wounded president was carried across the street here to what was then known as the Petersen Boarding House.  The Federal Style row home was built in 1849 by William Petersen, and by 1865 had been used exclusively as a boarding house.  The president spent his last night here, dying at 7:22 the next morning.  His son, Robert Todd Lincoln, and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, among a few others, were at his side.  The house is part of the National Park Service.  It was designated a National Historic Site in 2017.

 Submit photo(s) for this home.