Today, June 11, in 1850, Abraham Lincoln decided on a little home-improvement project.

That he wasn’t exactly a regular customer at home depot shows the, somewhat stilted, letter he wrote to order the supplies he needed:

“I wish to build a front fence, on a brick foundation, at my house. 

I therefore shall be obliged, if you will, as soon as possible, deliver me bricks of suitable quality, and sufficient number to build such foundation, fifty feet long; of proper width, and depth, under ground, and about two feet above ground.”

The order was sent to Nathaniel Hay who was in the brick business in Springfield. 

And if that name sounds familiar…Nathaniel was an uncle to John Hay, who at that time was only twelve years old but who’d become President Lincoln’s secretary exactly ten years later.

From allthinsglincoln on Tumblr

The Ponder House, Atlanta, 1865

The house of Ephraim Ponder sheltered Confederate sharpshooters during the siege of Atlanta; its perforated facade testifies to its absorption of countless rounds of Union shellfire

At the conclusion of the Civil War, George N. Barnard, a former staff photographer for Mathew Brady, retraced General William Tecumseh Sherman’s bloody march through the Carolinas and Georgia. Barnard compiled sixty-one landscape views into a deluxe album that he published in time for the Christmas market in 1866.

Photo by George N. Barnard,  1819–1902

http://puam.princeton.edu/lifeanddeathofbuildings/section/houses/barnar

For the Civil War Parlor on Tumblr

The concept of defacing property with immature doodles, known to punks the world around as "graffiti", is not new-- not even a little bit. Ancient Greek and Roman graffiti has been found etched into stone, and even early Americans got in on the fun. One of the best-preserved examples of old-timey doodling on private property is the so-called Graffiti House in Brandy Station, Virginia, where Civil War soldiers let their imaginations (and their pens) run wild all over the walls of the building. 

Of course, The Graffiti House wasn't always the Graffiti House. It was built in 1858 and eventually came to be owned by James Barbour, who served on the staff of Confederare General Richard S. Ewell. Mr. Barbour likely used it for some commercial purpose, given its proximity to the railroad tracks and railroad station. However, the fact that it was so close to the station also made it very valuable during the Civil War. Both Union and Confederate troops used the building at various points during the war (often as a field hospital or shelter) and both sides left their mark on it. 

Read more from Anna Hider on Roadtrippers.com

Photo taken shortly after the end of the Civil War

The ruins of the Virginia Military Institute Barracks , extensively damaged during Hunter’s Raid are visible in the background.

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Virginia Military Institute — Photographs.

From The Civil War Parlor