Welcome to the Winchester-Frederick County Civil War Trail sponsored by the Winchester-Frederick County Convention and Visitors Bureau (WFCCVB)
What better way to commemorate our area’s Sesquicentennial Anniversary of the Civil War than with a Civil War geo-trail! Come learn about our area’s involvement in the Civil War and explore all that the Winchester-Frederick County area has to offer.
This trail is comprised of 20 cache sites that are part of the Virginia Civil War Trails Program. Learn more about Civil War Trails by visiting www.CivilWarTrails.org. The Winchester-Frederick County Visitors Center is located at 1400 S. Pleasant Valley Road, Winchester, VA 22601. The Visitors Center is open daily from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., closed on major holidays..
Update 2017: This trail is now comprised of 28 caches. :)
The cache you are searching for is a daylight hours only cache.
This cache has been placed with permission from the Old Courthouse Civil War Museum
Thanks to VA_Pirates for hiding this cache.
Frederick County Courthouse
The Frederick County Courthouse was built in 1840 to serve the citizens of Winchester and Frederick County. It was constructed on the site of the 1741 courthouse which was the first courthouse beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains.
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.”
Sgt. Henry Peck was one of 63 soldiers of the 118th Pennsylvania Infantry (The Corn Exchange Regiment) captured at the Battle of Shepherdstown (in present-day West Virginia) on September 20, 1862, and briefly imprisoned here. Peck later wrote, “In Winchester we were consigned to the court-house and the inclosure between it and the street. There were already in these precincts a crowd of some 300 rebels, stragglers, conscripts and the riff-raff a provost-guard can pick up—a miserable lot—who did not fraternize with our men, and who were so filthy in clothing and habits that our men remained of choice in the open yard without tents or blankets, even during the nights of hoarfrost, to avoid contact with those in the court-house, which we were otherwise free to occupy.”
(The above quotes are from the wayside marker located in front of the Old Court House Civil War Museum)
Today the Frederick County Courthouse serves as the Old Court House Civil War Museum which houses a nationally recognized relic collection and provides tours of the building. It is open year round.
Old Courthouse Civil War Museum Hours:
SUMMER HOURS – May 1 through October 31: MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. SUNDAY: 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
WINTER HOURS – November 1 through April 30: WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. SUNDAY: 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
HOLIDAYS The museum is closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. The museum is also closed the Friday and Saturday of the Apple Blossom Festival (the date varies by year but it is the first weekend in May).