Surratt House

Surratt House
Hawkeye58 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Name	Surratt House
Location	Clinton, Prince George's County, Maryland, United States
Built	c. 1840
Architecture	Greek Revival, Colonial

Surratt House The Surratt House near Clinton, Maryland is a mid-19th-century dwelling associated with the Surratt family and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The property is noted for its connections to figures such as Mary Surratt, John Wilkes Booth, Lewis Powell (conspirator), and David Herold, and it has been the focus of preservation efforts by organizations including the National Park Service, the Maryland Historical Trust, and local Prince George's County heritage groups. The site sits within a landscape shaped by nearby historic places like Camp Springs, Maryland, Bladensburg, Maryland, and the transportation corridors linking Washington, D.C. and Annapolis.

History

The house was constructed circa 1840 on land in Prince George's County, Maryland and became the farmhouse and tavern run by John Surratt Sr. and later by his widow Mary Surratt. The site entered national prominence after the April 1865 assassination of Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre and the subsequent manhunt involving John Wilkes Booth and his co-conspirators, which drew in investigators from the United States Army and the United States Secret Service under leaders such as Edwin Stanton and officers like Lafayette Baker. During Reconstruction, the house figured in legal proceedings before military commissions and civilian courts, including the trial that led to the execution of several conspirators by order of the United States War Department. In the late 19th and 20th centuries the property passed through private hands connected to Montgomery County, Maryland and local families, survived periods of neglect, and became a subject of historical interest tied to publications by historians like William A. Tidwell, James H. Sanford, and Michael Kauffman.

Architecture

The building exhibits characteristic elements of mid-19th-century rural Maryland architecture influenced by Greek Revival architecture and vernacular Colonial forms seen throughout the mid-Atlantic. Architectural features include a gabled roof, symmetric fenestration, and a central hall plan similar to houses documented in surveys by the Historic American Buildings Survey and cataloged by the Maryland Historical Trust. Interior finishes historically included plaster cornices, wooden mantels, and period joinery comparable to examples found in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution and the Historic Annapolis Foundation. Construction materials reflect regional supply chains of the era, with locally sourced timber and bricks like those used in contemporaneous structures in Prince George's County and Charles County, Maryland. Alterations over time were recorded in preservation studies coordinated by the National Park Service and regional preservationists associated with the Historic Preservation Office (Maryland).

Mary Surratt and the Lincoln Conspiracy

Mary Surratt, proprietor of the tavern and boarding house, became one of the central figures in the conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln that included John Wilkes Booth, Lewis Powell (conspirator), George Atzerodt, David Herold, and Samuel Arnold. After Lincoln's assassination at Ford's Theatre, military authorities convened a military commission overseen by officials from the United States War Department and presided over by officers such as Major General Jacob D. Cox, with prosecutorial figures including Joseph Holt presenting evidence linking conspirators to the plot. Mary Surratt was arrested, tried by the commission, and sentenced alongside Atzerodt, Powell, Herold, and Edman Spangler; she was executed at Fort McNair in July 1865. Her case intersected with legal debates involving the United States Constitution, discussions in the United States Congress, and contemporary commentary by newspapers such as the New York Times and the Baltimore Sun. The historiography of the trial and Surratt’s culpability has been debated by scholars from institutions including Harvard University, Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, and independent historians like Ronald C. White and Thomas K. Hollowak.

Ownership and Preservation

Ownership of the house transferred among private individuals and organizations, including local agricultural families, preservation advocates, and municipal entities in Prince George's County. In the 20th century the property attracted attention from preservationists connected with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Maryland Historical Trust, culminating in documentation by the Historic American Buildings Survey and campaigns by local historical societies. Efforts to protect the site involved coordination with the National Park Service and negotiations with county agencies and preservation nonprofits such as the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority. Legal protections considered include local historic district designations administered by the Prince George's County Historical and Cultural Trust and easements modeled after those used by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Fundraising and interpretation efforts drew support from foundations and donors associated with institutions like The Smithsonian Institution and private benefactors.

Museum and Public Access

Today the property operates with interpretive programming, guided tours, and exhibits contextualizing the Surratt family within the broader narrative of the Lincoln assassination and mid-19th-century life in Maryland. Interpretive partnerships have included collaborations with institutions such as the National Park Service, the Maryland Historical Trust, regional museums like the Sunnyside Historical Museum and the Maryland Historical Society, and academic researchers from George Washington University and University of Maryland. Public access policies balance conservation needs identified by the Historic American Buildings Survey with educational outreach to visitors from the Washington metropolitan area, students from nearby schools in Prince George's County Public Schools, and national and international tourists arriving via Washington, D.C. The site hosts lectures, primary-source exhibitions, and commemorative events tied to anniversaries of Lincoln’s death and scholarship presented at conferences such as those organized by the Organization of American Historians and the American Historical Association.

Category:Historic houses in Maryland Category:House museums in Maryland Category:Prince George's County, Maryland