The Shenandoah Valley Civil War Museum at the 1840 Winchester-Frederick Courthouse

The Shenandoah Valley Civil War Museum is located within the historic 1840 Winchester-Frederick Courthouse in the heart of Downtown Winchester. Throughout the American Civil War, the building would be used as a recruitment office, barracks, field hospital, prisoner of war cell & rallying point for troops during a number of engagements. As the Civil War progressed, a number of guests left graffiti on the walls including drawings, signatures and the remarkable 'Curse to Jeff Davis'. The building also bore witness to the city changing hands over 70 times between Union and Confederate forces. Today, the building is preserved and maintained by the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District. The museum includes the wartime courtroom as well as a fine collection of artifacts in the newly renovated James R. Wilkins Exhibit Hall, which focuses on the Shenandoah Valley during the American Civil War. The museum also interprets George Washington's time at the first courthouse on the site.