Liberia secrets are uncovered

Grafitti that has been covered up for years was revealed again Friday, when students from Cornell University's Preservation Studies Student Organization removed a 20th-century bathroom wall at 1825 Liberia Plantation.

The writing on the second floor seemed to match already exposed graffiti written by a Union soldier on the eve of the Battle of Second Manassas.

The house, at 8601 Portner Ave., served as headquarters for Confederate and for Union forces during the Civil War, and historians believe that President Lincoln and Confederate President Jefferson Davis visited the house at different times.

Liberia Plantation was chosen for the group's annual work weekend after Manassas Museum curator Roxana Adams wrote the students and asked them to come to Manassas.

Emma Waterloo, president of the student organization, said the house that was built in 1825 by William and Harriett Weir fit the group's mission because there were plenty of projects to keep 40or so students, faculty and alumni busy over a couple of days.

"We were looking for a site that had more than just one project that we could get hands-on experience with," Waterloo said.

During their stay, members of the group will also whitewash a portion of the house's exterior, remove heating system hardware from the attic, remove a shower stall from the basement and clean the home's original shutters.

"We were really excited with the variety of materials and also the fact that it's in Virginia and we get to explore an area outside New York," Waterloo said.

The group started work Friday and will work through today and clean up Sunday at the plantation house.

Although the house was built in 1825, its "period of significance" was during the Civil War, Adams said.

"That's what we're taking it back to, and thank goodness we have an 1862 photograph," Adams said.

Dan Kelleher, a member of the student group, helped demolish the wall that hid the graffiti that will need to be interpreted.

Adams said soldiers typically wrote their names, units and the dates down when they wrote on walls.

"If they were wounded in a specific battle they would write that," Adams said.

Kelleher said the graffiti was a bonus.

"It's fun to get a lot of different experiences and this is definitely one to add to the list," the 22-year-old Kelleher said.

John H. Verrill, the director of historic resources for the Manassas Museum, looked pleased as he watched the proceedings at the house where students removed cinderblock rubble from the basement, cleaned shutters and hauled a 1960s era television roof antenna from the attic.

Verrill said everybody benefitted from the work weekend.

"It's an awesome opportunity for them and us to be here and assist us in the preservation of the house," Verrill said. "They bring expertise that we're not paying for, and that's a wonderful thing because preservation is very expensive to do."

So far, work to stabilize the house has cost roughly $550,000 in donations and grants, Adams said.

Manassas Bureau Chief Keith Walker can be reached at 703-369-6751.