A Weekend in Winchester: History and Architecture

I love spur of the moment trips. We decided we'd spend Veterans Day weekend somewhere fun, since there was no school on Monday. We wanted a place steeped in history and architecture, art and culture; a place with an abundance of antique shops and farm markets, and lots of options for fun stuff for the whole family. And the place had to be within a few hours' drive, that we hadn't visited before. The winner: Winchester, Virginia.

So, what did Winchester, VA have to offer?

History

We walked around town, sight seeing to stretch our legs before checking into the hotel.

This apple showed paintings of men who contributed to the local history, including Jubal Early, a confederate commander whose name I can't stop saying. Jubal Early. It's that much fun. Try it. Jubal Early.

Maisey poses in front of George Washington's office.

A great picture taken by Maisey. Clint started a trend where we pose like the statue. This is a young George Washington, surveying the land.

A cannon George Washington used to defend Winchester.

There were many cannons in this town. This one was in front of a beautiful old building a few blocks from the Old Town Winchester, an outdoor pedestrian mall chock full of fun and interesting things to see and do.

Old Courthouse

The Old Courthouse is in the center of the Old Town Winchester. It's the third courthouse constructed on the site. The first courthouse was where George Washington began his political career, as a representative in the House of Burgess.The current building served as both hospital and prison during the Civil War. Our docent said the courthouse changed hands over 70 times during the course of the war because it was such an important strategic building. Most interesting to me though, was the graffiti written on the walls of the second floor, now a museum, by both union and confederate prisoners. Can you tell I love history?

Clint imitates the statue, which is a dedication to the many confederate men who served in the Civil War. Yes, the history in this town was decidedly confederate-leaning.

The courtroom on the first floor.

There were an abundance of artifacts recovered from the many battlefields nearby; ammunition--cannonball, bullets and even torpedoes--among them; Evie had some strange affinity for the cannonballs and torpedoes. There were also an abundance of belt buckles, coat buttons, knives, swords and even some guns.

The girls found an old checkerboard and amused themselves while we examined the many exhibits.

The old courthouse bell in the tower. It took all of Evie's weight on the rope to make it ring. she really enjoyed that.

A graffitti drawing from an unnamed prisoner.

The famous curse by a Union prisoner of the Confederate President, Jefferson Davis.

The first African American regiment in the Union Army.

A portrait of Confederate soldiers, and a Union soldier. They look too young.

A portrait of Union soldiers.

Architecture

Everywhere you look in Winchester, you find beautiful stone houses, many of them colonial style, many have as much history as the museums. I wish I knew more about each building, but we didn't have time to research them all.