Lincoln Assassination Tours

[Dave Taylor]

For a few years, I was one of the guides for the John Wilkes Booth escape route bus tours put on Surratt Society out of Clinton, Maryland. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020, those tours were shut down and never returned. With the Society's blessing, I am launching my own tour business to bring a new generation of folks along on the manhunt for Abraham Lincoln's assassin. We are currently selling tickets for three dates in the spring. They are Saturday, March 14, Saturday, April 18, and Sunday, April 19, 2026. If you've always wanted to explore the 12-day escape of Lincoln's assassin firsthand, I can promise you a full day of fascinating history from the comfort of an air-conditioned motorcoach. We offer an approximately 10 and a half hour tour that travels over 170 miles, covering the same path of John Wilkes Booth from the scene of his crime at Ford's Theatre to his death in Caroline County, Virginia.

I invite you all to check out LincolnAssassinationTours.com for more information about our tours.

 

[RyanQ1864]

Will these tours include a stop at the Garrett farm site? Or do restrictions at Fort AP Hill/Walker still prohibit that?

 

[Dave Taylor]

Great question, Ryan. Sadly, the military's restrictions still prohibit walking into the wooden median where the Garrett house stood. However, the bus will be utilizing a publicly accessible turnaround lane through the median on Route 301 to get from the southbound side to the northbound side. This lane is still on the site of the Garrett farm and is located about 475 yards southwest of where Booth died. The barn in which Booth was shot was located west of the southbound lanes on the property of the Army base.

 

[JOHN42768]

Belated Welcome, enjoy

 

[Dave Taylor]

Thank you for the welcome, John!

 

[Cornpone and Molasses]

Welcome!
Sounds like an interesting tour!
I guess at the time it was the largest manhunt in U.S. history. At least until 1963.

 

[RyanQ1864]

Great question, Ryan. Sadly, the military's restrictions still prohibit walking into the wooden median where the Garrett house stood. However, the bus will be utilizing a publicly accessible turnaround lane through the median on Route 301 to get from the southbound side to the northbound side. This lane is still on the site of the Garrett farm and is located about 475 yards southwest of where Booth died. The barn in which Booth was shot was located west of the southbound lanes on the property of the Army base.

Thanks, Dave!

You gave a tour of the Virginia leg of the escape with Michael Kauffman one year out of Dahlgren that I was fortunate to be on. It was a great tour, and the owners of Cleydael were renovating and offering tour attendees to take old shingles and nails. I still have mine. Wishing your new endeavor all the best.

 

[Dave Taylor]

Thanks, Dave!

You gave a tour of the Virginia leg of the escape with Michael Kauffman one year out of Dahlgren that I was fortunate to be on. It was a great tour, and the owners of Cleydael were renovating and offering tour attendees to take old shingles and nails. I still have mine. Wishing your new endeavor all the best.

That was a truly great tour, Ryan. I remember that Michael Kauffman was a good sport and took part in a re-enactment of Booth being turned away from the Peyton House in Port Royal. Currently, the Port Royal Museum of American History has a temporary exhibit of some of Mr. Kauffman's collection.

A couple of days ago, I received a nice endorsement from Dr. Edward Steers, Jr., a noted Lincoln historian and author. Dr. Steers took my tour in 2019 in preparation for doing a private tour himself after several years of retirement. It certainly made me proud to have a luminary like Dr. Steers endorse my tour.

 

[Dave Taylor]

Still being new at the marketing aspect of this whole thing, I neglected to include the ever-important social media outlets we have. For such a niche tour, it's helpful to get exposure wherever we can in order to find the right audience. We have Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky accounts and will be posting interesting facts and stories about the tours and the Lincoln assassination in general on those sites. I hope you all might consider following us on our different platforms.

 

[Dave Taylor]

Hello all. I just wanted to put up a quick update for interested folks. To run our John Wilkes Booth escape route tours, Lincoln Assassination Tours requires a minimum number of ticket sales to operate. I'm happy to announce that we have reached this threshold for our inaugural tour on Saturday, March 14, 2026. I'm very grateful to everyone who has purchased advance tickets to help get Lincoln Assassination Tours off the ground. If you've been thinking about taking the Booth escape route tour, I hope you'll consider registering for one of our tours this spring. In addition to the March 14 tour, we are also planning for April 18 and April 19. The April dates aren't confirmed yet, as we need a few more folks to ensure they are a go. I hope you will check out our website and social media channels to learn more.