In 1861, after the congregation moved to a newly built structure, John T. Ford bought the former church and renovated it into a theater.

On April 14, 1865—just five days after General Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House—Lincoln and his wife attended a performance of Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre.

The famous actor John Wilkes Booth, desperate to aid the dying Confederacy, made his way into the presidential box and shot Lincoln.

Congress paid Ford $88,000 in compensation,[7] and an order was issued forever prohibiting its use as a place of public amusement.

On June 9, 1893, the front section of the three interior floors collapsed when a supporting pillar was undermined during excavation of the cellar, killing 22 clerks and injuring another 68.

The restoration of Ford's Theatre was brought about by the two-decade-long lobbying efforts of Democratic National Committeeman Melvin D. Hildreth and Republican North Dakota Representative Milton Young.

The event featured remarks from President Barack Obama as well as appearances by Katie Couric, Kelsey Grammer, James Earl Jones, Ben Vereen, Jeffrey Wright, the President's Own Marine Band, Joshua Bell, Patrick Lundy and the Ministers of Music, Audra McDonald and Jessye Norman.

Most recently renovated for a July 2009 reopening,[20] the Museum is run through a partnership with the National Park Service and the private non-profit 501(c)(3) Ford's Theatre Society.

In addition to covering the assassination conspiracy, the renovated museum focuses on Lincoln's arrival in Washington, his presidential cabinet, family life in the White House and his role as orator and emancipator.

[21] The museum also features exhibits about Civil War milestones and generals and about the building's history as a theatrical venue.

[22] The National Park Service has operated it as a historic house museum since 1933, the rooms furnished as on the night Lincoln died.