President Lincoln's Cottage at the Soldiers' Home
| President Lincoln and Soldiers’ Home National Monument | |
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Lincoln Cottage under restoration in 2007.
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Location within Washington, D.C.
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| Location | Washington, D.C., USA |
| Coordinates | 38°56′30″N 77°0′42″W / 38.94167°N 77.01167°WCoordinates: 38°56′30″N 77°0′42″W / 38.94167°N 77.01167°W |
| Area | 2.3 acres (9,300 m2) |
| Established | July 7, 2000 |
| Governing body | Armed Forces Retirement Home-Washington, President Lincoln's Cottage at the Soldiers' Home (501c3) |
| Website | President Lincoln's Cottage |
President Lincoln and Soldiers’ Home National Monument, sometimes shortened to President Lincoln's Cottage, is a national monument on the grounds of the Soldiers' Home, known today as the Armed Forces Retirement Home. It is located near the Petworth and Park View neighborhoods of Washington, D.C.. President Lincoln's Cottage was formerly known as Anderson Cottage.
President Abraham Lincoln and family resided seasonally on the grounds of the Soldiers' Home to escape the heat and political pressure of downtown Washington, as did President James Buchanan (1857–1861) before him. President Lincoln's Cottage also served as the Summer White House for Presidents Rutherford B. Hayes (1877–1881) and Chester A. Arthur (1881–1885).
The historic Cottage, built in the Gothic revival style, was constructed from 1842 to 1843 as the home of George Washington Riggs, who went on to establish the Riggs National Bank in Washington, D.C. Lincoln lived in the cottage June to November 1862 through 1864 and during the first summer living there, Lincoln drafted the preliminary draft of the Emancipation Proclamation. Mary Todd Lincoln fondly recalled the campus; in 1865, she wrote, "How dearly I loved the Soldiers' Home."
Poet Walt Whitman, who was living on Vermont Avenue near the White House in 1863, often saw the president riding to or from Soldiers' Home. He wrote in The New York Times, "Mr. LINCOLN generally rides a good-sized easy-going gray horse, is dressed in plain black, somewhat rusty and dusty; wears a black stiff hat, and looks about as ordinary in attire, &c., as the commonest man...I saw very plainly the President's dark brown face, with the deep cut lines, the eyes, &c., always to me with a deep latent sadness in the expression." Whitman quoted this article in his 1876 book Memoranda During the War, adding the phrase: "We have got so that we always exchange bows, and very cordial ones."
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