Civil War Medical Museum

About this activity

The Civil War Medical Museum at the Exchange Hotel is a truly fascinating day out for the family, especially if you have slightly older kids. Here, you can explore exhibitions on not just the history of Gordonsville as a railroad town, but also the remarkable history of the Exchange Hotel as the Gordonsville Receiving Hospital with its medical and Civil War artifacts.

Even the building is historic enough to start your history experience! An old 1860 railroad hotel, you get to explore three floors of displays that will take you back in time.

The Georgian architecture with its verandas and second-floor entry steps are reminiscent of Hotel days of a bygone era - so kids, get those imaginations going! Can you imagine what life would have been like back over 100 years ago?

The Civil War Medical Museum houses a world-renowned collection of artifacts that all relate to medical care during the Civil War. Kids can see actual surgical instruments used by Confederate medical staff, various pharmaceutical bottles and containers, medical knapsacks and panniers, as well as stretchers and litters, prosthetic devices, and dental tools. An incredible look back at the realities of war. 

The Museum also displays period furnishings and surgical artifacts that will showcase the building's history as a Hotel and then as a Battlefield Receiving Hospital. In fact, it's now the only building that survived the war, and the only Receiving Hospital still standing in Virginia. Pretty impressive!

Today, it's a fascinating museum that can kick start any child's interest in history, where they read about these events in the exact spots that they happened.