Ford's Theatre

Ford's Theatre features a whitewashed brick facade and a wide, arched entrance that stands out along Tenth Street. John T. Ford built this structure to house his acting company in eighteen sixty-three. On the night of April fourteenth, eighteen sixty-five, the play Our American Cousin brought a capacity crowd to the building. John Wilkes Booth slipped into the presidential box during the third act, fired a single shot, and changed the course of the American presidency forever. The stage remains set tonight.