The Mary Elizabeth Surratt Boarding House is an 1843 vernacular Greek Revival dwelling that Mary Surratt operated as a boarding house from September 1864 through April 1865. During this period, John Wilkes Booth visited the boarding house both…

Due to its close proximity to the White House, Saint John’s Church is known as the “Church of the Presidents”; accordingly, every President since James Madison has attended at least one service there. A prayer book in one of the pews contains the…

While it’s currently the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Old Patent Office reflects an era when scientific invention propelled the American economy and began to mold the national character. Although more than a…

Three years into the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln petitioned Congress to build DC’s first Naval hospital. Built by July 1866, the Old Naval Hospital provided medical services to American veterans in the US Navy. The hospital served sick and wounded…