Historic Frederick County Courthouse, Winchester

The old courthouse in Winchester is now a museum located on the downtown mall. The downstairs has a courtroom and a gift shop. Upstairs is a Civil War Museum featuring displays of graffiti left by soldiers when the building was used as a hospital during the war.

Here's an excerpt from the Civil War Trails sign that's in front of the building: During the Civil War, the Union and Confederate armies each used the Frederick County Courthouse as a hospital and a prison. Cornelia McDonald, a local citizen, nursed the wounded here after the First Battle of Kernstown on March 23, 1862. She later wrote, “I went to the court house; the porch was strewed with dead men. Some had papers pinned to their coats telling who they were. All had the capes of their coats turned over to hide their still faces; but their poor hands, so pitiful they looked and so helpless. ... Soon men carried them away to make room for others who were dying inside.”

For more, see Frederick County Courthouse Marker on HMDB

and the

Old Courthouse Museum's Website