Surratt House Museum
Surratt House Museum
4.5
12:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Wednesday
11:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Thursday
11:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Friday
11:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Saturday
12:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Sunday
12:00 PM - 4:00 PM
About
Built in 1852 as a middle-class plantation home, historic Surratt House recaptures life during the mid-19th century and features the fascinating web of the Lincoln conspiracy. Tours & Museum Shop Monday & Tuesday: closed Wednesday-Friday: 11 am - 3 pm Saturday & Sunday: noon - 4 pm Tours depart from the Visitor Center every half hour and the last tour begins one half hour prior to closing. Office Monday-Friday, 9 am-5 pm and during weekend open hours. Group Tours Group tours of 10 or more may be scheduled in advance. Please call the office to schedule your group.
Duration: 1-2 hours
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4.5
88 reviews
Excellent
47
Very good
29
Average
9
Poor
1
Terrible
2
Deidre B
2 contributions
Jun 2024 • Family
I went on a 4pm tour today, Friday June 28th 2024 with my grandson. The handsome young man giving the tour was very kind, polite, professional and so very knowledgeable. He definitely knew history and would make an awsome history teacher. He made the tour fun and exciting and it was very clear that he loved history and truly enjoyed sharing his knowledge with others.
Thank you so very much and a wonderful afternoon tour.
Thank you so very much and a wonderful afternoon tour.
Written 28 June 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
svdbylv
Boston, MA7 contributions
Jul 2023 • Family
I was disappointed this visit. I have been a few times now and the changes are not for the better. It is no longer run by the Surratt society but by {Prince George county. I have no problem with the aspect of slavery being presented; it was a part of history. But the place has definitely lost its charm. The docents used to wear period costume and the gift shop supported local authors - privately printed books you can't get anywhere else. Now it was a small room with the normal over-priced books I can get on Amazon. The tour was good enough; it is an interesting site. I do wish the tour guide had pointed out and explained the artifacts in the rooms - though few were original to the house. If you know about house and its place in history, you know everything that was told. Which is a bit of a disappointment.
Written 7 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
LAURIE S
Buckhannon, WV599 contributions
Jun 2023 • Couples
Docent Bryan (with a “y”) gave a very historical review of the time period that the surratt house represented. Though JW Booth had minimal presence here, it’s truly that as their fame to claim. Slaves’ lives were part of each room. The visicenter has a small gift shop and a “clue” room after touring the property. Bathrooms are on the second floor of the surratt house. Picnic tables are on sight. Property is in a very developed intersection.
Written 8 June 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
DMcCraw
Clinton, MD30 contributions
Aug 2014 • Family
If you are ever in the DMV take the time to take a walk in history and visit the Ford's Theatre, the Petersen House (across from the Fords Theatre), the Surratt House in Clinton, MD. and Dr Mudd's House in Southern MD. You can visit them all in the course of a day. It will be like stepping out of the present into a closet of history. I guarantee that it will be an experience that you will never forget! The Surratt House by itself is a historical gem. Not only will you get a glimpse of life during that tumultuous period in history but you may even get an opportunity to speak with a relative of Mary Surratt.
Written 3 November 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
OpenGatesFarm
Huntingtown, Maryland21 contributions
If you think you know all there is to know about President Abraham Lincoln's assassination, think again. The exceedingly knowledgeable docents at The Surratt House Museum will share with you tidbits you may never have known before. I highly recommend this fascinating museum.
Written 20 September 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
topfellman
Middlesbrough, United Kingdom149 contributions
The guides were well versed in everything you could possibly wish to know about the house. They very much brought the house "to life" in an informative, interesting and engaging manner. At three dollars, this was a real bargain and if you are interested in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, this is a must see and well worth the while.
Written 6 September 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Steven G
Canton NY8 contributions
Aug 2012 • Solo
I was interested in seeing this attraction. The admission was good; $3.00. Go during the week when it is open (Wednesday.) I was there around 1. I had a private tour since it was not busy. The young man who was the docent did a great job filling in some things I did not know. Friendly staff. I recommend this attraction.
Written 16 August 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
JBIndianapolis
Indianapolis63 contributions
I was the sole visitor the day I was there. That is normally a good thing for a history buff, and I found the house to be well preserved. But the focus of the tour guide was Mary Surratt's husband, who died a couple of years before the conspiracy to kill Lincoln. While interesting, Mr. Surratt was not the reason this property is famous and historic. MRS. Surratt was. And very little was said of her, or of Booth's historic stop here the night he murdered Lincoln.
Rather than a detailed tour of the house with reference to its place in history, my visit turned into an hour-long discussion of Civil War history with the guide. I enjoy a good conversation, but I was there to see this historic site. And I found it odd that we seemed to be debating the merits of the Confederate cause. I thought I detected some latent sympathies for the conspirators in this discussion. Hmm. I thought that debate was well settled.
Rather than a detailed tour of the house with reference to its place in history, my visit turned into an hour-long discussion of Civil War history with the guide. I enjoy a good conversation, but I was there to see this historic site. And I found it odd that we seemed to be debating the merits of the Confederate cause. I thought I detected some latent sympathies for the conspirators in this discussion. Hmm. I thought that debate was well settled.
Written 21 December 2009
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
OhioDarkrider
Streetsboro, OH125 contributions
Jul 2018
Due to a system glitch from Tripadvisor, my first review never published. I don't know what I wrote for that review and it is sadly lost to history. What isn't lost to history is...history at the Surratt House Museum. I went here and Henry Mudd's house and thought it really was good going to both in one day. Learn some history people! Don't be stupid.
Written 3 September 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Castpolymer1
Clinton, MD17 contributions
Sept 2017 • Friends
The original structure was built as a middle-class plantation house in 1852. It is a two-story, 19th-century wood-frame structure. It is a 40-by-32-foot (12.2 by 9.8 m) rectangular building with a gable roof. There are five windows on both floors in the western face of the house. A small porch with a gabled roof protects the front door. The rear (eastern side) of the house mirrors that of the front (western side). The interior of the house features a fireplace and chimney on the north and south ends of the building. A single stairway lead from the first to the second floor. The exterior of the house is clapboard, and on the north side of the house is a verandah with a skillion roof that extends the width of the house
Mary Jenkins met John Harrison Surratt in 1839. An orphan, John Surratt was adopted by Richard and Sarah Neale of Washington, D.C., a wealthy couple who owned a farm. Jenkins and Surratt wed in August 1840. The Surratts lived at a mill in Oxon Hill, Maryland, and later at John's childhood home on a farm in the District of Columbia. In 1851, the farmhouse burned to the ground (an escaped family slave was suspected of setting the blaze). Within a year, John Surratt purchased 200 acres of farmland near what is now Clinton, and by 1853 he constructed a tavern and an inn there. Mary initially refused to move herself and the children into the new residence. She took up residence at the farm again, but John sold both the Neale farm and Foxhall in May 1853 to pay debts and she was forced to move back in with him in December. The area round the tavern was officially named Surrattsville in 1853. Within a short period of time, a post office was installed inside the tavern. John Surratt was the hamlet's first postmaster. In 1854, John built a hotel as an addition to his tavern, and called it Surratt's Hotel. Over the next few years, Surratt acquired or built a carriage house, corn crib, general store, forge, granary, gristmill, stable, tobacco curing house, and wheelwright's shop.
Mary Jenkins met John Harrison Surratt in 1839. An orphan, John Surratt was adopted by Richard and Sarah Neale of Washington, D.C., a wealthy couple who owned a farm. Jenkins and Surratt wed in August 1840. The Surratts lived at a mill in Oxon Hill, Maryland, and later at John's childhood home on a farm in the District of Columbia. In 1851, the farmhouse burned to the ground (an escaped family slave was suspected of setting the blaze). Within a year, John Surratt purchased 200 acres of farmland near what is now Clinton, and by 1853 he constructed a tavern and an inn there. Mary initially refused to move herself and the children into the new residence. She took up residence at the farm again, but John sold both the Neale farm and Foxhall in May 1853 to pay debts and she was forced to move back in with him in December. The area round the tavern was officially named Surrattsville in 1853. Within a short period of time, a post office was installed inside the tavern. John Surratt was the hamlet's first postmaster. In 1854, John built a hotel as an addition to his tavern, and called it Surratt's Hotel. Over the next few years, Surratt acquired or built a carriage house, corn crib, general store, forge, granary, gristmill, stable, tobacco curing house, and wheelwright's shop.
Written 6 August 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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