Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site in American history have occurred within the boundaries of the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site. Pennsylvania Avenue in particular is the focal point for a great many politically important parades and protests. A number of these historic events have been assassinations or funerals. President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre in 1865. President James A. Garfield was shot in the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad Passenger Terminal on July 2, 1881, by Charles J. Guiteau; he died 79 days later on September 19. Prior to its designation as a historic site, six presidential funeral processions had traversed Pennsylvania Avenue, the
Garfield Tea House Long Branch by Charles J. Guiteau, a delusional religious fanatic who was disgruntled by failed efforts to secure a federal post. In early September 1881, more than half a mile of tracks were laid out in less than 24 hours by local residents when they learned that the ailing president was coming to Long Branch from Washington to help him recover from his (ultimately fatal) gunshot wounds. Rather than requiring the president to move by a horse-drawn carriage over rough roads, the tracks enabled Garfield to be brought directly to the door of the oceanfront Francklyn cottage from the local