[3] Because of its location on the Orange & Alexandria Railroad and the Carolina Road, the house, which was less than 0.25 miles (0.40 km) from the train depot, is thought by the Foundation to have been a commercial building as well as a dwelling.

The earliest known graffiti in the house date to the Second Manassas Campaign in August 1862, as the armies transited Culpeper County.

Later that year, Federal troops occupied the building when the Army of the Potomac camped in Culpeper County during the winter of 1863–64.

[6] The plaster walls on the house's second floor are covered with an outstanding and unique collection of charcoal and pencil graffiti left by soldiers from both armies.

In addition to their autographs, the soldiers drew elaborate pictures of men and women, and wrote inscriptions commemorating their units and their battles.