John Ford opened the doors of this brick structure in 1863 as a 2,500-seat theater. After Lincoln's assassination, the theater was ordered closed by the federal government. The War Department leased the building from Ford for offices, ultimately purchasing it a year later. In 1932, the building was opened as a Lincoln museum, and in the mid-1960s, restoration work began. Ford's Theatre reopened as a memorial and a playhouse in 1968. The Petersen House, where Lincoln died, sits across the street from the theater; its three first-floor rooms are open to the public.