See the messages, drawings and signatures of Civil War soldiers on a special 360 video tour of the Graffiti House just outside of Culpeper, Virginia beside Brandy Station Battlefield.
360 Video Tour: Civil War Era Graffiti House from Travels with Darley on Vimeo.
Step inside the Graffiti House and take a look at the messages, drawings and signatures of Civil War soldiers in this special 360 video. We filmed inside the Graffiti House for our upcoming PBS episode featuring Culpeper, Virginia. Bob Luddy, a docent at the Graffiti House took us through this home that was once used as a field hospital during the battle of Brandy Station.
The walls in the three upstairs rooms, the upstairs hallway and downstairs bathroom feature everything from signatures to notations to sketches of horses and birds to female visitors to the camps. The house, which had several uses over time, was at one point a shelter for soldiers.
As Bob put it, it was sort of like their Motel 6. Later, it was a Confederate field hospital. After the Civil War, the Graffiti House would change hands fourteen times and fall into disrepair. Remarkably, while being renovated by a business man in the 1990’s, the historic graffiti was discovered. In 2002 the house was purchased by the Brandy Station Foundation to be preserved. It’s now listed on the National Register of Historic Places and located just outside of Culpeper beside Brandy Station Battlefield.
In addition to the old graffiti, visitors who have an ancestor with a connection to the Graffiti House have signed their name on the wall downstairs, marking their passage through this historic home. I asked Bob whether anyone had experienced any paranormal activity in the house. Indeed they have, and the Graffiti House even hosts haunted evenings and ghost hunting events.
Officers who “signed” the walls included Lieutenant William J. Marshall, Colonel John Egbert Farnum, and Sergeant Henry Thomas, among others.
The Graffiti House and Culpeper are featured in “Travels with Darley” on PBS stations. Check out the episode on PBS and Create TV.
