On Good Friday, April 14, 1865, Ford's Theatre filled for a comedy called Our American Cousin.
The Civil War was essentially over. General Lee had surrendered to Grant just five days earlier. President and Mrs. Lincoln arrived here that evening to see Our American Cousin, a popular comedy. Lincoln was tired, but the public announcement of his attendance meant thousands turned out expecting to see him.
At approximately ten fifteen in the evening, John Wilkes Booth — a well-known actor familiar with the theatre's layout — entered the Presidential Box above and to the right of the stage. He had spent months conspiring to capture or kill the president. He fired a single shot into the back of Lincoln's head with a derringer pistol, then leaped to the stage, catching his spur on the bunting and breaking his leg, and escaped through the back alley.
Lincoln was carried across the street to the Petersen House, where he died the following morning at seven twenty-two a.m. He was fifty-six years old. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton stood by the bed and reportedly said, 'Now he belongs to the ages.'
The theatre was closed and purchased by the government after Lincoln's death, converted to offices and a museum. In 1968, it was restored to its 1865 appearance and reopened as a working theatre. Plays are performed here today.
When you go inside, look up at the Presidential Box. The flags and bunting are reproductions of what Lincoln saw.