604 H St NW

Washington, DC

Mary Surratt (b. 1823; d. July 7, 1865) was one of several conspirators in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Her husband, landowner John Surratt, whom she married at age 17, built a tavern and post office in Prince George’s County in Maryland. The property became known as Surrattsville. The couple had three children, one of whom was a Confederate secret agent during the Civil War. After her husband’s death, Surratt moved to one of the properties he owned, a boarding house in DC. It was here that Surratt met with several people involved in the assassination, including John Wilkes Booth, to whom she reportedly supplied guns. She was eventually apprehended, tried, convicted, and hanged on July 7, 1865, becoming the first woman ever to be executed by the U.S. federal government. Surratt’s boarding house, located at 604 H Street NW, was built in 1843 and still stands today. It is now a Japanese and Chinese restaurant called Wok n’ Roll.