1 Best Sight in Waldorf, Annapolis and Southern Maryland

Dr. Samuel A. Mudd House

The Dr. Samuel A. Mudd House is where John Wilkes Booth ended up at 4 am on Holy Saturday, 1865, his leg broken after having leaped from the presidential box at Ford's Theater. Most likely, the 32-year-old Dr. Mudd had no idea his patient was wanted for the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Nonetheless, Mudd was convicted of aiding a fugitive and sentenced to life in prison. (His time behind bars was cut short when President Andrew Jackson pardoned him in 1869.) Today the two-story house, set on 197 rolling acres, looks as if the doctor is still in. The dark purple couch where Mudd examined Booth remains in the downstairs parlor, 18th-century family pieces fill the rooms, and the doctor's crude instruments are on display. There's a 30-minute guided tour of the house, an exhibit building, and Mudd's original tombstone. They also have a farm museum and tobacco museum.

3725 Dr. Samuel Mudd Rd., Waldorf, Maryland, 20601-4359, USA
301-645--6870
Sights Details
Rate Includes: $7, Late Mar.–late Nov., Wed. and weekends 11–4, Closed Mon.--Tues.