Erected about 1860 by Gen. Montgomery G. Meigs, this bridge spans Cabin John Run, about 7 miles northwest of Washington. It is a part of the aqueduct system, and the arch spanning the stream is 220 feet across at the base and 105 feet in height. The entire length of the bridge is 584 feet. The thickness of the bridge above the arch is 14¹⁄₂ feet, and it is 20 feet in width. Until a few years ago it was the largest stone arch in the world.
FORD’S THEATER
Ford’s Theater Building, in which President Lincoln was assassinated while attending a performance on the night of April 14, 1865, is on the east side of Tenth Street between E and F Streets NW.
The building was originally a Baptist Church and used as such for more than 15 years. It was used as a theater less than three years—from 1862 to 1865—and never as such after the night of the assassination. Taken over immediately by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, it was made over into a 3-story building for use of the War Department and was so used for many years. Now it is a Government building, housing in part a portion of the Oldroyd collection from the Lincoln museum. On April 9, 1893, while repairs were being made, the three floors collapsed, killing 22 clerks and injuring 68.
The residence of Harry C. Ford, who was manager of the theater for his father, John T. Ford, stood adjacent to the theater on the right.
LINCOLN MUSEUM AND THE OLDROYD COLLECTION OF LINCOLNIANA
Across the street from Ford’s Theater stands a red brick house (No. 516 Tenth Street NW.) to which President Lincoln, after being shot about 10.30 o’clock on the night of April 14, 1865, was carried and where, after an interval of 9 hours, he died at 22 minutes after 7 o’clock the following morning without regaining consciousness.
The room to which the martyred President was brought is a little front one on the main floor. In size and simplicity it was a room like that of the log cabin in Kentucky in which the great man was born. As a man of the people, though they had elevated him to the highest position the Nation could bestow on any of its citizens, he died amidst simple surroundings as one of them.
The house was purchased by the United States Government in 1897 for $30,000; the Oldroyd Lincoln Memorial Collection was purchased for $50,000 and taken over by the Government September 1, 1926. It is now under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service, and is visited by many thousands each year.
