Just saw the plans for the old courthouse renovation, and they're scraping off historic graffiti from the Civil War era.

If they wash it away, we lose a raw piece of how those soldiers really felt.

4 comments

4 Comments

We always do this, clean up history until it's boring. Those graffiti marks are the real thoughts of people back then. Now it'll just be another blank wall.

jessica_baker5d ago

I've found that taking pictures first works well. @laurag28, it keeps the record without leaving the mess.

laurag286d ago

But it's just old vandalism, not real history.

kevin9401d ago

Seriously, what a shame. I was just reading about how they kept the graffiti in that old brewery basement from the same time period, because it showed the actual names and thoughts of the men stationed there. @jessica_baker is right that pictures help, but it’s not the same as being able to stand in front of the real thing and feel that link. Once they clean it, that connection is just gone forever. It turns a place with a story into just another empty building.