Local Artifacts from the Civil War Era on Display

What do you do with 50,000 bullets that date back to the Civil War era along with other items that were buried in the earth before our time? For Leesburg resident John Creamer that decision was easy…you share them.

For thirty years, Creamer has been digging up artifacts from the Civil War era, which started shortly after a friend asked if he wanted to go out and search.

“I got hooked,” Creamer said. “We mostly walked through areas that were under construction and had we not found the things we did, they would have been gone forever.”

It didn’t take long until his unique collection grew, which he shares with the public once a year at the , located in downtown Leesburg.

On Friday, he spent the afternoon setting up his annual display, which will be available to the public until August 31. A least 300 items are available this year including belt buckles, rifles, and currency. Creamer said that most of the items have been found within Loudoun County, including the Leesburg Walmart, before it was even built.

“That used to be the Exeter Plantation House that was there and the remains of the house were there up until they built Walmart.” Creamer said it was one of his favorite spots to search because he would almost always find something. “The places I enjoy going the most are places where I find stuff. It’s a whole lot more fun when you bring something home.”

Creamer said he tends to favor construction sites because it offers him an advantage. Many of the trees have been cut down, allowing easier access, and the soil has already been dug up.  

“The volume of stuff in this area is really hard to believe,” Creamer said. “At one time this was an area that was certainly defended by the South and taken by the Union and occupied after the war by the Union troops. A lot of the [artifacts] could be post war. It’s not necessarily stuff from a battle but it’s a wide range and I wouldn’t even want to guess how many pieces I’ve got.”

Library Assistant Mary Fishback said she looks forward to the display every year. There are so many items that he’s collected, she said, and every display tends to be different.

“These are actual things. He knows where the guns came from, in some cases, he knows where the bullets came from, and he has little display cards that tell you the information that he knows,” Fishback said. “They haven’t been cleaned, they haven’t been polished, painted, or refurbished. He just digs them out of the ground, pushes the mud off and puts them in our case. It’s really something to see.”

Fishback said the Civil War artifacts are one of the more popular displays at the library. Along with the centennial of the Civil War, Fishback said people always seem interested in artifacts that have been dug locally in Loudoun County.

“He has some unique and odd pieces from the North and the South that he has on display,” she continued. “It’s just an interesting collection to anyone who’s interested in artifacts or just seeing something of that time period. It’s not just for the Civil War collector it would be for just about everybody that would want to see something on the war.”

“When you really think about all of the local activity, the stuff that happened right here, and how much hostility there was between the North and the South, to find something that was evidence of that activity kind of puts history together for you,” Creamer said. “It actually inspires me to read about it and the more I read the more fascinating I am with that period. I couldn’t imagine living in Loudoun County during that time.”

The Loudoun artifacts from the Civil War Era will be on display at the Thomas Balch Library from now until August 31. Visitors can view the artifacts during normal business hours and are asked to call the library for more information.