In 1833, a Baptist congregation erected a church. Originally a multiracial congregation, First Baptist Church split in 1839 into white and African American churches. First Baptist Church occupied the site until 1859.

In 1861, John T. Ford purchased First Baptist Church and renovated it into a theatre. After a fire in late 1862, Ford had a new building erected—the present-day Ford’s Theatre. It was one of Washington’s premiere theatres as the Civil War raged.

William and Anna Petersen bought a home at what today is 516 10th Street, NW, in 1849. Like other homeowners in Washington, they rented out rooms to help pay the bills. Their renters came from a variety of backgrounds and represented a part of the mixture of people in Washington at the time.

What should happen to a building after a violent event? After Lincoln’s assassination, people expressed a variety of ideas about what should happen to Ford’s Theatre—including burning it down, reopening the theatre and transforming it into an educational institute named for Lincoln.

The U.S. government purchased Ford’s Theatre in 1866. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton ordered it converted into a three-floor office building, with the Army Medical Museum initially occupying the third floor. It remained a federal records building until 1932, even after an interior collapse killed 22 workers in 1893.

After Anna and William Petersen’s heirs sold their family’s house, the building became a law and newspaper office. But visitors kept showing interest. A group of prominent Washingtonians arranged for it to become collector Osborn Oldroyd’s Lincoln Museum in 1893.

In 1932, the U.S. government moved the Lincoln Museum into Ford’s Theatre, and converted the Petersen House into a historic house museum. The National Park Service took over in 1933. But questions lingered about whether to restore the theatre to its 1865 appearance.

In 1968, the restored Ford’s Theatre opened with its first public performance since Lincoln’s assassination. Since then, the site has been a joint historic site and working theatre, extending Lincoln’s legacy through theatre, history and education.