President Lincoln’s Cottage at the Soldiers’ Home
U.S. Military Asylum; The Old Soldiers' Home
Washington, DC
Detail of the mural "View of the Soldiers' Home in Lincoln's Time" by William Woodward, 2007
Detail of the mural
"View of the Soldiers' Home in Lincoln's Time"
by William Woodward, 2007
President Lincoln's Cottage
Four presidents of the United States escaped the heat and humidity of summer in Washington, DC at The Old Soldiers' Home on a hill three miles from the White House. During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln spent June to November, 1862-1864 in a 34-room Gothic Revival "cottage" there. He reportedly made his last visit to the house, on April 13, 1865, the day before his assassination. He found cool breezes and quiet, but he brought his wartime responsibilities with him. Lincoln was staying in this house when he wrote the final draft of the Emancipation Proclamation in September 1862. Frederick Douglass, the famous African American abolitionist and writer, called the proclamation “the immortal paper, making slavery forever impossible in the United States."
Wealthy Washington, DC banker George Riggs completed the “Corn Rigs” cottage at his 250-acre summer retreat in 1842. The irregular shape of the house, its many gables, latticed windows, and elaborate gingerbread trim mark it as Gothic Revival, a style considered particularly appropriate for country “cottages.” In 1851, Riggs offered to sell his property to the United States Government, which was looking for a place to create a home for retired and disabled veterans of the United States Army.
https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/presidents/lincoln_cottage.html
