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From Primedia Publications
On the Track of Assassin John Wilkes Booth
Trip Planner


Booth's final journey began at Ford's theatre, where he shot and killed President Lincoln in 1865.
The best time of year to retrace John Wilkes Booth's route is over weekends from late Spring through early Fall. That's when the weather is best and the three principle museums along the route -- Ford's Theater, the Surratt Tavern and the Dr. Samuel A. Mudd House -- all have regular hours. They are the only historic buildings on the route officially open to the public.

Ford's Theater is at 511 10th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., (202) 426-6924. In addition to the fine museum in the basement, guides give a 20-minute lecture on the assassination six times a day. The Peterson House across the street (516 10th Street, N.W.), where Lincoln died at 7:22 a.m. on April 15th, is also open to the public.

The Surratt Boarding House (604 H Street, N.W.), which was run by Lincoln conspirator Mary Surratt, and where Booth met frequently with his fellow conspirators, is in what is today Washington's Asian neighborhood. The price of admission is a Chinese dinner. The building, though it still appears much as it did in the 1860s, is now home to the highly recommended Go-Lo's Restaurant.

The Surratt Society, a nonprofit organization devoted to continuing research into the assassination, is headquartered at The Surratt Tavern in Clinton, Maryland. The society maintains a small research library for members. (Annual membership is a mere $5 and includes a subscription to the monthly newsletter.) Since 1977, the society has also run 12-hour bus tours of the escape route. For tour reservations: The Mary Surratt House & Tavern, 9118 Brandywine Road, P.O. Box 427, Clinton, MD 20735, (301) 868-1121.

You will drive roughly seventy miles to cover the entire escape route from Ford's Theater to the site of the Garrett farm in northeastern Virginia, where Booth died. The farmhouse is gone, and the exact spot where the assassin drew his last breath now lies in a lonely, wooded stretch on the median of U.S. Rt. 301, about three miles south of Bowling Green, Virginia. There is a historic marker on the north-bound lane of Rt. 301, but not the south-bound lane. The death site itself is marked by a metal pipe and a couple of cinder blocks.

When following the escape route by car, you should obtain detailed state highway maps beforehand. Most major sites are well marked, but some are located on side roads that are not well-marked. Surratt Tavern guidebooks will point out several houses where Booth stopped in his flight. Most still stand and are private residences today. Be mindful of privacy and trespass issues.

Getting There

For additional travel and tourist information, contact the Charles County Department of Community Services, Tourism Division, Star Route 1, Box 1144, Port Tobacco, MD 20677, (800) 766-3386; the Prince Georges County Conference and Visitors' Center, 9200 Basil Ct., Suite 101, Largo, MD 20774, (301) 925-8300; and The Washington, DC Convention & Visitors Bureau, 1212 New York Ave., N.W., Suite 600, Washington, DC 20005, (800) 422-8644.

The nearest metropolitan airports are Washington's National Airport, Dulles Airport and the less congested, more accessible Baltimore Washington International Airport.

Though there is a shortage of luxury accommodations along the Maryland and Virginia portions of the escape route, there are chain motels and hotels in the area, particularly along major highways like Maryland Rt. 5 and U.S. 301.