Lincoln in DC
Lincoln’s legacy lives on at attractions and places of interest throughout DC. As you plan your visit, be sure to schedule a stop at these notable landmarks and locations that pay tribute to the president throughout the year.
Lincoln Landmarks
Start your Lincoln tour with a visit to one of DC’s most famous presidential tributes, the Lincoln Memorial (Independence Ave. & 23rd St. NW). It was on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial that Marian Anderson performed after she was denied a place at DAR Constitution Hall in 1939. It was there that Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his storied “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963. It’s been the site of demonstrations, protests, celebrations and even famous movie scenes, from “Forrest Gump” to “The Wedding Crashers.” Dedicated on Memorial Day in 1922 (four score and seven years ago), the memorial was designed by Henry Bacon. The interior statue of Lincoln, sculpted by Daniel French, stands 19 ½ feet tall and gazes across the Reflecting Pool toward the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol.
Plan a visit to President Lincoln’s Cottage, the newly-restored retreat and work place where Lincoln spent his summers, to hear compelling stories about his challenges and responsibilities as a father, husband and commander-in-chief. Open daily for guided tours, the cottage unveils a new life-sized bronze statue of Lincoln and his horse on Feb. 12, depicting the president on his commute between the Soldier’s Home and the White House.
After a visit to Lincoln’s Cottage, stop by the US National Arboretum to see a Lincoln landmark with a unique history. The Arboretum is home to the original columns from the east portico of the US Capitol Building, and it was in front of these columns that Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated in 1861 and again in 1865. Now installed at the summit of the Arboretum’s Great Meadow, the National Capitol Columns form an awe-inspiring sight against the sky, and a quietly commanding spot for contemplating Lincoln’s life and his role in history.
Discover DC’s first tribute to Honest Abe, located one mile east of the Capitol in Lincoln Park (between 11th St. & 13th Sts. NE & SE at East Capitol St. NE & SE). Built in 1876, the statue known as the Emancipation Memorial shows Lincoln offering freedom to a man enslaved. The funds required to build the memorial were collected from freed slaves who wanted to honor Lincoln’s legacy as the “Great Emancipator.”
View likenesses of Lincoln on display at the National Portrait Gallery. Among those on display is the “cracked plate photograph,” the work by Alexander Gardner features a crack believed by some to follow the path of the bullet that struck the president. The building that now houses the National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum was also the site of Lincoln’s second inaugural ball.
Tours & Trails
Follow in Lincoln’s footsteps during his years in DC on the Civil War to Civil Rights Heritage Trail, a self-guided tour through downtown DC, developed by Cultural Tourism DC. Stop at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church (1313 New York Ave. NW), where the Lincolns worshipped, or the Willard Hotel (1401 Pennsylvania Ave. NW), where Lincoln stayed prior to his second inauguration. His bill is on display in the hotel’s history gallery.
Learn more about the night of the assassination and the life of the people freed by Lincoln through Ford’s Theatre’s History on Foot Walking Monologues. These regularly-scheduled walking tours are led by actors portraying the Washington Metropolitan Police Department’s Detective James McDevitt, who investigated the Lincoln assassination, and Elizabeth Keckley, a free black woman and dress designer who lived in DC during the Civil War. The tours are offered regularly; the McDevitt tour begins in March and the Keckley tour begins in April. Tickets are $12 for individuals and $10 for groups of 20 or more.
A Fateful Night
Reopening early this year following an extensive renovation, Ford’s Theatre operates as an ongoing tribute to Lincoln’s love of arts and culture. Tour the theatre and its newly-remodeled interactive museum which displays artifacts like the single-shot flintlock Derringer gun that Booth used to shoot the president.
Across the street from Ford’s Theatre is the Petersen House, where witnesses carried the wounded president and where he died the following morning. It’s also open daily for tours.
Head to the National Museum of Health and Medicine to see artifacts related to the assassination, including illustrations drawn alongside Lincoln’s deathbed and the bullet that claimed his life.
Visit the National Archives Public Vaults for an interactive exhibition about the Booth conspiracy.
Tour historic Congressional Cemetery in Southeast, where more than 80 people who knew Lincoln or witnessed his assassination and the trial that followed are buried, including one conspirator, David Herold.
A Legacy of Civil Rights
Pay your respects to a Lincoln contemporary at Frederick Douglass’ residence in Anacostia, Cedar Hill. Of Lincoln, abolitionist Frederick Douglass wrote, “In his company, I was never in any way reminded of my humble origin, or of my unpopular color.” Upon her husband’s death, Mrs. Lincoln sent Douglass the President’s favorite walking staff, which is on permanent display.
Honor the more than 200,000 African-American soldiers who joined Lincoln’s cause and fought for the Union at the African-American Civil War Memorial (12th & U Sts. NW).
