Petworth in Northwest Washington in Washington, District of Columbia — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Mr. Lincoln’s Ride
Lift Every Voice Georgia Avenue
— Georgia Ave./Pleasant Plains Heritage Trail —
Photographed By Devry Becker Jones (CC0), September 5, 2020
It’s the summer of 1862. Early morning, but already hot and dusty. You’re standing at this spot, when you see a tall man on horseback. It’s President Abraham Lincoln. You’re pleased to see him, but not surprised. After all, he rides by here often.
Georgia Avenue, then the Seventh Street Turnpike, ran between downtown Washington and Rock Creek Church Road, which led to Lincoln’s summer cottage on the grounds of the Old Soldiers’ Home (now the Armed Forces Retirement Home). Though Lincoln generally traveled with military escorts, sometimes he sneaked out before dawn or after dark to journey in solitude.
The Civil War was a year old. Lincoln occasionally stopped to visit with formerly enslaved men and women or wounded soldiers at settlements and Army camps along his route. Harewood Hospital, once located near today’s Washington Hospital Center, was one of these. The poet Walt Whitman described Harewood as “out in the woods, pleasant and recluse.”
In March 1865, southern radical John Wilkes Booth heard the president would attend a play at Campbell Hospital, then located at Sixth and Florida, near where this Heritage Trail begins. Booth plotted unsuccessfully to kidnap Lincoln on his way back to the cottage. But a mere month later, he had his way, assassinating Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre.
For 83 years Engine Company 24, DC’s first fully motorized fire company, occupied the south end of this block. Though the facility closed in 1994, its handsome façade survives on the Metro cooling plant on New Hampshire Avenue just south of this corner. The Green line opened here in 1999.
Erected 2011 by Cultural Tourism DC. (Marker Number 19.)
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Roads & Vehicles • War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Booth's Escape, the Former U.S. Presidents: #16 Abraham Lincoln, and the Georgia Avenue / Pleasant Plains Heritage Trail series lists. A significant historical month for this entry is March 1865.
Location. 38° 56.185′ N, 77° 1.466′ W. Marker is in Northwest Washington in Washington, District of Columbia. It is in Petworth. Marker is at the intersection of Georgia Avenue Northwest (U.S. 29) and Rock Creek Church Road Northwest, on the right when traveling south on Georgia Avenue Northwest. The marker is at a three-street intersection which includes New Hampshire Avenue Northwest. It is on the corner, at the south end of the Park Place Apartments and across Georgia Avenue from the “Georgia Avenue/Petworth" Metro subway station. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Washington DC 20011, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other
Photographed By Devry Becker Jones (CC0), September 5, 2020
Regarding Mr. Lincoln’s Ride.
[Captions:]
President Lincoln’s Cottage at the time of his visits.
Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, courtesy Indiana State Museum
President Lincoln, seen here reviewing troops, followed this route to the cottage.
Library of Congress
“Washington, D.C. 1862-4" showing the usual route taken by President Lincoln to the Soldier’s Home
Based of Boshke’s map of 1861.
Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth, right, considered attacking Lincoln at Campbell Hospital, above.
Library of Congress
Military musicians pose in front of a Harewood Hospital building, 1864, right.
Photographed By Devry Becker Jones (CC0), September 5, 2020
Library of Congress
In 1949 Engine Company 24 stood on the site of today’s Park Place apartments.
Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
Related marker. Click here for another marker that is related to this marker. To better understand the relationship, study each marker in the order shown.
Also see . . . Booth's Escape Byway, Maryland Office of Tourism. (Submitted on August 19, 2019.)
Additional keywords. Georgia Ave.-Petworth Metro Station; "Park Place at Petworth Metro"
Credits. This page was last revised on January 30, 2023. It was originally submitted on February 25, 2012, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland. This page has been viewed 910 times since then and 30 times this year. Last updated on March 7, 2019, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on September 7, 2020, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. 4, 5. submitted on May 26, 2013, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.