Today in Park History

National & State Parks

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National & State Parks

TODAY IN PARK HISTORY

The boarder's bedroom at the Petersen House where Abraham Lincoln died
courtesy of the National Park Service

June 11

1896
The Petersen House, where Abraham Lincoln died on April 15, 1865 at 7:22am, is purchased by the Federal Government. Located directly across the street from Ford's Theater, the red brick three-story and basement townhouse had been built by William Petersen, a German immigrant, in 1849. Today it is part of Ford's Theatre National Historic Site.

1940
Cumberland Gap National Historical Park is authorized as a unit of the National Park Service. Located where the borders of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia meet, the 20,000-acre park protects and interprets the Gap and its broad range of cultural and natural resources. From 1775 to 1810, between 200,000 and 300,000 men, women, and children crossed the Gap, a major break in the Appalachian Mountain chain, into the unknown land of Kentucky.