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General Information
America's transfer from Civil War to peace was made more difficult on April 14, 1865, when Abraham Lincoln was shot and killed just five days after General Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House. A well-known actor, John Wilkes Booth, desperate to aid the dying Confederacy, stepped into the president's theatre box. Booth's decision to pull the trigger altered the nation's power to reconstruct after the war. Booth escaped into the night as Abraham Lincoln was carried to the Petersen boarding house across the streeet. It was there that President Lincoln died early the next morning. Lincoln was the first American president to be assassinated.
To help plan your visit to Ford's Theatre, we have implemented a timed entrance system. There is no charge to visit the site. However, if you would like to make an advance reservation, there is a convenience fee. For more information, visit Operating Hours & Seasons and Fees & Reservations.
Groups of 20 or more should call the Ford’s Theatre Society, a Ford's Theatre National Historic Site partner, at 202-638-2367 or 800-899-2367 to make a reservation.
In general, Ford's Theatre is open every day except for December 25. However, Ford's Theatre is an active theatre and there are times when the site is closed for productions and special events.
The museum is scheduled to be reopened in the spring of 2009.
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