Old Courthouse Museum Collection

1601 THL

SCOPE AND CONTENT: The collection contains a variety of items concerning the Old Frederick County, VA Courthouse Museum in Old Town Winchester, including a program from the play The Anvil by Julia Davis that was performed at the courthouse, newspaper articles on the museum and the play, several of the brochures that the museum distributes, and several photographs of the exterior and interior of the building. (1 box) Last updated 10/09.

BIOGRPAHICAL AND HISTORICAL: Built in 1840, the old Frederick County, VA Courthouse was located on the site of the original courthouse, built in 1744. The courthouse served as the judicial center for the county for 144 years, and was the center of local activity during the Civil War. Judge Richard Parker, the judge in the John Brown trail was the presiding judge during that period. With the opening of the Winchester-Frederick County Judicial Center in 1984, the old courthouse went out of use. In 1996, a committee of Fredrick County citizens strongly recommended that the Old Courthouse be renovated, and reopened as a Civil War museum. The Old Courthouse Civil War Museum was opened to the public on May 24, 2003.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Old Courthouse Museum Website, www.civilwarmuseum.org

CITE AS: Old Courthouse Museum Collection #1601 THL, Stewart Bell Jr. Archives, Handley Regional Library, Winchester, VA, USA

ORGANIZATION:

BOX 1

The Anvil by Julia Davis – program for performance at the Old Courthouse Museum, October 8, 2005, and a preview (October 6, 2005) and review (October 10, 2005) of the play from The Winchester Star

23 pages and four leaves, printed and typescript (photocopy)

Brochures – Miscellaneous brochures concerning the Old Courthouse Museum, printed

News Articles – unnumbered, printed (photocopy)

Soldiers Identified for Courthouse Graffiti – 8 leaves, printed (also found on website)

Oversize

Mapcase 3 drawer11

Newspaper – Central Presbyterian Richmond, VA Nov. 19, 1863, page 2, has obituary of Robert Sherrard Bell