Petersen House (Washington, D.C.)
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Petersen House
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| Location | 10th St., NW., between E and F Sts., Washington, D.C. |
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| Coordinates | 38°53′48″N 77°1′33″W / 38.89667°N 77.02583°WCoordinates: 38°53′48″N 77°1′33″W / 38.89667°N 77.02583°W |
| Area | 0.29 acre (1200 m²) |
| Built | 1849 |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian |
| Visitation | 856,079 (2005) |
| Part of | Ford's Theatre National Historic Site (#66000034) |
| Significant dates | |
| Designated CP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NHS | February 12, 1932 |
The Petersen House is a 19th-century federal style row house located at 516 10th Street NW in Washington, D.C. On April 15, 1865, United States President Abraham Lincoln died there after being shot the previous evening at Ford's Theatre located across the street. The house was built in 1849 by William A. Petersen, a German tailor. Future Vice-President John C. Breckinridge, a friend of the Lincoln family, once rented this house in 1852. In 1865, it served as a boarding house. It has served as a museum since the 1930s.
On the night of April 14, 1865, Lincoln and his wife Mary Todd were attending a performance of Our American Cousin when John Wilkes Booth, an actor and Southern sympathizer, entered the box and shot the President in the back of the head. Henry Rathbone and Clara Harris were also in the box with the Lincolns, and Rathbone suffered stab wounds. Attendants including Charles Leale and Charles Sabin Taft examined Lincoln in the box before having him carried across the street to the Petersen House, where boarder Henry Safford directed them inside.
Almarin Cooley Richards, superintendent of the Washington Metropolitan Police, was attending the performance and immediately began investigations. From the back parlor of the house, Richards interviewed witnesses and ordered the arrest of Booth.
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