old court house civil war museum

narans2015

Great place to learn history. Specially young folks who need to learn history more, it is interesting and unforgettable way. Travelled with family and friends enjoyed around beautiful Shenandoah area we stopped by several places. One of them was the Old Court House Civil War Museum. It was very nice.

lather66

Great place to visit and view artifacts. You can see up in the old bell tower and ring the bell from long ago.

FarangYai

Great displays and artifacts. Good overview talk. Great place to check out. The lead person at the desk was a bit brusque but was still friendly. Perhaps she was just trying to be efficient.

DeeS9348

Loved this place... nice little self guided tour with wonderful pieces of history and information. Even had some of the original writing on the walls from the soldiers. Would definitely tour again when in the area.

alabamad2014

Very well appointed, Lot's of history, self guided tour to explore the artifacts at your leisure. Loved the writing on the walls from the civil war soldiers and how the museum left the original writing on the walls!

Bjaj1

Not a bad way to spend a hour learning about some of the history around the civil war and how it impacted the local area. Only wish the lady selling tickets was a little more accommodating around the AAA discount.

paulwN883UK

The front desk lady was funny and helpful. The displays were nicely done. The building is very cool architecturally. There is a lot of history in this little building.

513kellyr

OK, the only way to get to this is by parking your car and walking through Old Town - don't drive around the streets like I did trying to find it! Was well worth it when you get there. A guide took me into the courthouse section and gave me some background on how the building was used as a hospital for both sides. I was on my own upstairs - exhibits were OK. It was more interesting though just to see the messages that prisoners/patients scratched into the plaster. Well worth stopping.

GuinnessBoy1950

A wonderful museum that brings the war in to perspective. The building was a prison, a hospital and courthouse. The prisoners produced graffiti and it's there now for all to see. If you want to see the real Civil War, go to this museum.

Offthetouristtrack

Being English we have a little knowledge of the civil war, but found this little museum very informative, to the point of buying a history in the shop to learn some more. Well worth a visit, and perhaps if we had been here sooner we would have focused our trip to Virginia on seeing more civil war sites.

MichelS217

I'm always somewhat hesitant to visit regional museums but this is one I didn't regret at all visiting because I learned a lot from the exhibits, pictures, explanatory notes, maps and varied artefacts presented. It provided me with a perspective on the daily circumstances of this 4 year intercine conflict opposing brothers and families of the then US of A. The approximate number of deaths is now projected as having been around 700 000 americans, with its impact and demographic consequences on the later years of this developing country in mid to late 19th century. Visit this museum, you will not regret it.

836thomasd

The first floor is the old court room well preserved and the second floor museum has many Civil War artifacts well presented plus actual graffiti carved by Civil War soldiers held here after the Battle. A must see in Old Town Winchester.

Familyof5NC

We stopped in after brunch and learned a lot. The exhibit area was a bit small but very informative. Highly recommend.

PatriciaK815

We visited the Old Court House Civil War Museum during our first visit to Winchester and would certainly recommend it to others. It was very informative and a pleasure to see.

CJSlatt

I stopped in here on a whim after seeing the statue of the Confederate soldier outside. The building itself has a fascinating history during the Civil War, which the staff was very helpful in explaining. There is a trove of artifacts on the upper level - soldier graffiti on the walls (don't miss the curse on Jefferson Davis!), ordinance and bullets, medals, buttons, etc. There are great photographs and paintings of the Civil War too. A highlight was a collection of bullets from a field hospital with teeth marks on them - soldiers literally "biting the bullet" during surgery! This museum brings the personal experiences of individual soldiers to the forefront.