President Lincoln's Cottage is a historic home used by

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

on the grounds of the Soldiers' Home, known today as the

Armed Forces Retirement Home The Armed Forces Retirement Home refers to one of two Old Soldiers' retirement homes, one in Gulfport, Mississippi, the other in Washington, D.C., that house veterans and retired members of the United States Armed Forces. Current status In ...

, near the

Petworth Petworth is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Chichester (district), Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the junction of the A272 road, A272 east–west road from Heathfield, East Sussex, Heat ...

neighborhood in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

In 2000 it was designated a

national monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

called President Lincoln and Soldiers' Home National Monument. President

and his family resided seasonally on the grounds of the Soldiers' Home to escape the heat and political pressure of downtown Washington, as did President

James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was the 15th president of the United States, serving from 1857 to 1861. He also served as the United States Secretary of State, secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and represented Pennsylvan ...

(1857–1861) before him. President Lincoln's Cottage also served as the Summer White House for Presidents

Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was the 19th president of the United States, serving from 1877 to 1881. Hayes served as Cincinnati's city solicitor from 1858 to 1861. He was a staunch Abolitionism in the Un ...

(1877–1881) and

Chester A. Arthur Chester Alan Arthur (October 5, 1829 – November 18, 1886) was the 21st president of the United States, serving from 1881 to 1885. He was a Republican from New York who previously served as the 20th vice president under President James A. ...

(1881–1885).

History

The historic cottage, built in the

Gothic revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style, was constructed from 1842 to 1843 as the home of

George Washington Riggs George Washington Riggs (July 4, 1813 – August 24, 1881) was an American businessman and banker. He was known as "The President's Banker." He was a trustee of the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the Peabody Education Fund. Early life Riggs wa ...

, who went on to establish the

Riggs National Bank Riggs National Bank is the historic former headquarters building of Riggs Bank, located at 1503–1505 Pennsylvania Avenue, Northwest, Washington, D.C., in the downtown Washington, D.C. neighborhood. Designed by architects York and Sawyer in 1899 ...

in Washington, D.C. Lincoln lived in the cottage June to November 1862 through 1864 and during the first summer living there, Lincoln drafted the preliminary draft of the

Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War. The Proclamation had the eff ...

Mary Todd Lincoln Mary Ann Todd Lincoln (Birth name, née Todd; December 13, 1818July 16, 1882) was First Lady of the United States from 1861 until the assassination of her husband, President Abraham Lincoln, in 1865. Mary Todd was born into a large and wealthy ...

fondly recalled the campus; in 1865, she wrote, "How dearly I loved the Soldiers' Home." Poet

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman Jr. (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist; he also wrote two novels. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature and world literature. Whitman incor ...

, who was living on Vermont Avenue near the White House in 1863, often saw the president riding to or from Soldiers' Home. He wrote in ''The

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', "Mr. LINCOLN generally rides a good-sized easy-going gray horse, is dressed in plain black, somewhat rusty and dusty; wears a black stiff hat, and looks about as ordinary in attire, &c., as the commonest man...I saw very plainly the President's dark brown face, with the deep cut lines, the eyes, &c., always to me with a deep latent sadness in the expression." Whitman quoted this article in his 1876 book ''Memoranda During the War,'' adding the phrase: "We have got so that we always exchange bows, and very cordial ones." In 1889 it was named Anderson Cottage after the late Brevet Major General Robert Anderson, who was one of the founders of Soldiers' Home. Soldiers-Home-Lincoln-Cottage

The Soldiers' Home stands on atop the third highest point in Washington. The Home was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

on November 7, 1973, and listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on February 11, 1974. In 2000, the cottage was placed on the

National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 ...

's 11 Most Endangered list. Then about 2.3 acres (9,300 m²) of the Home was proclaimed a

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

on July 7, 2000. The National Trust took on the restoration which was completed in 2007. The Cottage exterior was restored to the period of Lincoln's occupancy in the 1860s in a joint venture by the Philadelphia firm J. S. Cornell & Son, and Stephen Ortado, Historic Structures, according to the standards of the National Park Service. Today the property is leased by the National Trust for Historic Preservation through a cooperative agreement with the

; and is managed by President Lincoln's Cottage at the Soldiers' Home, an independent 501(c)(3) charity. President Lincoln's Cottage opened to the public on February 18, 2008. A reproduction of the Lincoln desk on which he wrote the Emancipation Proclamation was commissioned by the Trust for use in the Cottage. The original drop-lid walnut paneled desk is in the

Lincoln Bedroom The Lincoln Bedroom is a bedroom which is part of a guest suite in the southeast corner of the second floor of the White House in Washington, D.C. The Lincoln Sitting Room makes up the other part of the suite. The room is named for President Abra ...

of the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

. The desk is the only surviving piece of furniture that is known to have been placed in the White House and the Cottage during the Lincoln era. The adjacent Robert H. Smith Visitor Education Center features exhibits about the Soldiers' Home, wartime Washington, D.C., Lincoln as Commander-in-Chief during the Civil War, and a special exhibit gallery. President Lincoln's Cottage and Visitor Education Center is normally open to the public for tours seven days a week.

Gallery

File:Lincoln Cottage Rear Entrance.jpg, Rear of the Cottage, September 2018 File:Lincoln Statue at Lincoln's Cottage.jpg, Statue of Lincoln in front of the Cottage, September 2018

References

* ''

Preservation Preservation may refer to: Heritage and conservation * Preservation (library and archival science), activities aimed at prolonging the life of a record while making as few changes as possible * ''Preservation'' (magazine), published by the Nat ...

'' Vol 59, Number 1, Jan/Feb 2007, page 6

External links

* Official website
President Lincoln's Cottage at the Soldiers' Home

President Lincoln and Soldiers' Home National Monument Special Resource Study – National Park Service

President Lincoln's Cottage at Google Cultural Institute

Armed Forces Retirement Home: Washington, D.C.

National Trust for Historic Preservation: President Lincoln's Cottage

Presidential Proclamation 7329 of July 7, 2000

National Historic Landmark information

Letters from Mary Todd Lincoln

''Booknotes'' interview with Matthew Pinsker on ''Lincoln's Sanctuary: Abraham Lincoln and the Soldiers' Home'', December 21, 2003.
{{authority control 2000 establishments in the United States Gothic Revival architecture in Washington, D.C. Historic house museums in Washington, D.C. Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C. Monuments and memorials in Washington, D.C. Monuments and memorials to Abraham Lincoln in the United States National monuments in Washington, D.C. National Trust for Historic Preservation Presidential homes in the United States Presidential museums in Washington, D.C. Protected areas established in 2000 Riggs family

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links