Washington spent most of the 1860s as a city at war. The Capitol dome was still under construction when the fighting started, and the city filled with soldiers, contraband camps, and field hospitals. Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theatre in April 1865. These are 139 stories from the decade that defined the District.
In 1866, Washington police officer William West stopped President Ulysses Grant for driving his horse too fast near the White House, confiscated the buggy, and sent the president home on foot.
Reader Matthew shared this 1864 Civil War-era photograph of Arlington House, the former home of Robert E. Lee.
This photograph captures Abraham Lincoln’s second inauguration on March 4th, 1865, just weeks before his assassination. The crowds stretch down Pennsylvania Avenue. The Capitol dome, completed just the year before, looms behind the platform.
The National Hotel, Brown’s Indian Queen, and the Southern Hotel once anchored Pennsylvania Avenue. By 1942 all three were gone. Here’s their story.
A reader shares the story of tracking down a newspaper article connecting their ancestor to Abraham Lincoln, who served as a bodyguard to the 16th President.
Explore the abandoned 19th century Seneca Quarry in Maryland, which provided the iconic red sandstone for DC landmarks like the Smithsonian Castle.
Sarah Rosetta Wakeman enlisted in the 153rd New York Volunteers as Private Lyons Wakeman. At least 400 other women did the same.
The night Booth shot Lincoln, Lewis Powell tried to kill Secretary Seward. Six-foot-two, twenty when he attacked. Hanged eleven weeks later.
When Union troops entered Alexandria on May 24, 1861, they found one elderly man chained to the basement floor of the slave pen at 1315 Duke Street.
