News Release

Petersen House to Temporarily Close January 1, 2019

Date: December 6, 2018
Contact: Brent Everitt, 850.393.7952

Petersen House to Temporarily Close January 1, 2019, for
Historic Preservation Work

House where Abraham Lincoln died to reopen in March 2019

Washington - The Petersen House (House Where Lincoln Died) will temporarily close for preservation work from January 1 through February 28, 2019. During this time, workers will update the historic wallpaper and perform general preservation and maintenance work on the historic structure that was left over from last year’s closure.  

The closure will not affect Ford’s Theatre, the Ford’s Theatre Museum, or the Aftermath Exhibits in the Center for Education and Leadership. Lines to enter the Aftermath Exhibits will likely be longer during the Petersen House closure. Project and schedule updates will be posted on www.fords.org, the Ford’s Theatre Twitter (@FordsTheatreNPS, @FordsTheatre) and Facebook (@FordsTheatreNPS, @FordsTheatre) pages. 

Following his assassination at Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865, the mortally wounded Abraham Lincoln was carried across the street to the home of William and Anna Petersen. While doctors cared for the president, the Petersen family and some of their boarders spent the night in the basement. At 7:22 a.m., April 15, 1865, Abraham Lincoln died in the back bedroom of the house. Located at 516 10th Street NW, the Petersen House is open daily, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with last entry at 5:00 p.m. Entry to the house is included in the Ford’s Theatre Historic Site Visit ticket.  
 
National Park Service and Ford’s Theatre Society Partnership. Since reopening in 1968, more than 100 years after the April 14, 1865, assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, Ford’s Theatre has been one of the most visited sites in the nation’s capital. Operated through a partnership between the private non-profit 501(c) (3) Ford’s Theatre Society and the National Park Service, Ford’s Theatre is the premier destination in the nation’s capital to explore and celebrate Abraham Lincoln’s ideals and leadership principles: courage, integrity, tolerance, equality and creative expression. 

Ford’s Theatre Society was founded under the guidance of executive producer Frankie Hewitt, who, during her 35-year tenure, established Ford’s as a living, working theatre producing performances that highlighted the diversity of the American experience. Since the arrival of Paul R. Tetreault as Director, critics and the theatre going public have recognized Ford’s for the superior quality of its artistic programming. With works from the Tony-nominated Come From Away and the nationally acclaimed Big River, to the world premieres of Meet John Doe, The Heavens Are Hung In Black, Liberty Smith, Necessary Sacrifices, The Widow Lincoln and The Guard, Ford’s Theatre is making its mark on the American theatre landscape. In the past decade, the mission of Ford’s Theatre Society expanded to include education as a central pillar. This expansion led to the creation and construction of the Center for Education and Leadership, which opened in February 2012. Under the current leadership of Board of Trustees Chairman Phebe N. Novakovic and through the lens of Lincoln’s leadership and legacy, Ford’s today endeavors to advance Lincoln’s “unfinished work” with programs and performances that cultivate empathy, encourage dialogue and bridge divides in our American life.

For more information on Ford’s Theatre and the Ford’s Theatre Society, please visit www.fords.org.

For information on the National Park Service and Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site, please visit www.nps.gov/FordsTheatre.