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“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
Penn Quarter in Northwest Washington in Washington, District of Columbia — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
REMOVED
SEE LOCATION SECTION
 

Abraham Lincoln Walked Here

Civil War to Civil Rights

— Downtown Heritage Trail —

 
 
Abraham Lincoln Walked Here Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Richard E. Miller, March 7, 2010
1. Abraham Lincoln Walked Here Marker
Inscription.
"Tonight,
beautiful women,
perfumes, and the violins’ sweetness…

At 10:30 p.m. on March 4, 1865, a tired and gaunt President Lincoln arrived at this site, his wife Mary in white lace and silk with purple and white flowers in her hair. The ball celebrating his second inaugural was being held in the Grand Hall on the top floor of the Patent Office next to where you stand (today a Smithsonian Museum).

It was a bittersweet affair. Union victory was in sight, but the ravages of war weighed heavily on the president, and were reflected in his weary, weathered face. He left before the midnight supper, never being one for social occasions. In six weeks he would be gone, felled by an assassin’s bullet at Ford’s Theatre just two blocks from here.

Lincoln would have come this way often. The Patent Office and the General Post Office Building, facing it across F Street, were the two most important federal buildings to be built after the White House and the Capitol. Both buildings were designed in part by Robert Mills, the architect of the Washington Monument and the U.S. Treasury, and were partially complete by the time Lincoln came to Washington as a one-term congressman from Illinois in 1848. They towered over the little two- and three-story shops and homes around them.
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In one of these small buildings adjacent to the Post Office, Samuel B. Morse ran the nation’s first telegraph office.

During the Civil War, this street would have been the scene of intense activity. The Post Office doubled as a food commissary. The Patent Office, scene of Lincoln’s second inaugural ball, had been a hospital. The poet Walt Whitman, who nursed the wounded there, witnessed it all and recorded the dramatic contrasts.

…[contrast with the war-time]
groan, and the glassy eye
of the dying."
Walt Whitman, March 1865

 
Erected by Cultural Tourism DC. (Marker Number .5.)
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, MusicCommunicationsGovernment & PoliticsWar, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Downtown Heritage Trail, the Former U.S. Presidents: #16 Abraham Lincoln, the Lincoln 1861 Inaugural Train Stops, and the Postal Mail and Philately series lists. A significant historical month for this entry is March 1804.
 
Location. This marker has been replaced by another marker nearby. It was located near 38° 53.839′ N, 77° 1.377′ W. Marker was in Northwest Washington
Abraham Lincoln Walked Here Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, February 16, 2015
2. Abraham Lincoln Walked Here Marker
In front of Modern Head by Roy Lichtenstein.
in Washington, District of Columbia. It was in the Penn Quarter. Marker was at the intersection of F Street Northwest and 8th Street Northwest on F Street Northwest. Marker is on the sidewalk in front of the main (south side) entrance to the Smithsonian Institution, Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture - National Portrait Gallery. It is between 7th and 9th Streets Northwest, and across F Street from the end of 8th Street Northwest. Touch for map. Marker was at or near this postal address: 801 F Street Northwest, Washington DC 20004, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this location. Patent Office Building (a few steps from this marker); a different marker also named Abraham Lincoln Walked Here (a few steps from this marker); General Post Office (within shouting distance of this marker); Roy Lichtenstein (within shouting distance of this marker); The Chinese Hackberry Tree (within shouting distance of this marker); a different marker also named Roy Lichtenstein (within shouting distance of this marker); The Restoration of 800 F Street (within shouting distance of this marker); The Daguerre Monument (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Northwest Washington.
 
More about this marker. [Illustration captions:]

above Lincoln’s second inaugural ball was held in the Patent Office, now a Smithsonian
Old Patent Office Bldg - now the Smithsonian Institution's Donald W. Reynolds Center image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Richard E. Miller, March 7, 2010
3. Old Patent Office Bldg - now the Smithsonian Institution's Donald W. Reynolds Center
the "Abraham Lincoln Walked Here" marker is visible behind the white car, lower right.
museum. [“Bill of Fare of the Presidential Inauguration Ball ...” ] (Library of Congress.)

above Walt Whitman, about 1860. (Library of Congress.)

above and right The Patent Office, seen in 1848, towered over the neighborhood. Samuel B. Morse ran the nation’s first telegraph office on this block. (Library of Congress.)

below A drawing of the Old Post Office Building about 1843 when only the section facing F Street was complete. A corner of the Patent Office appears at the left. (Library of Congress.)
 
Related marker. Click here for another marker that is related to this marker. This marker has been replaced with the linked marker which has slightly different text.
 
Also see . . .  The Reynolds Center. (Submitted on March 16, 2010, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland.)
 
Additional keywords. The Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture; inaugural balls
 
Smithsonian American Art Museum<br>National Portrait Gallery image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, February 16, 2015
4. Smithsonian American Art Museum
National Portrait Gallery
Formerly the Patent Office
The Old Post Office image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, February 16, 2015
5. The Old Post Office
Now the Hotel Monaco
Walt Whitman Way image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, February 16, 2015
6. Walt Whitman Way
Since 2005 the 800 block of F Street has been designated "Walt Whitman Way."
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on January 30, 2023. It was originally submitted on March 15, 2010, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland. This page has been viewed 2,273 times since then and 13 times this year. Last updated on August 21, 2022, by Carl Gordon Moore Jr. of North East, Maryland. Photos:   1. submitted on March 15, 2010, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland.   2. submitted on February 17, 2015, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland.   3. submitted on March 16, 2010, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland.   4, 5, 6. submitted on February 17, 2015, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 18, 2024