Curt and Linda Follmer fell in love with the old house on Mallet Road before they even knew much about it.

It had charm. It had a great view. And it had history – enough history that it’s bringing national attention through Home and Garden Television’s hit show &#8220If Walls Could Talk.”

The couple bought the old Hullum place, circa 1834, in 2001, but it took a few years before they realized the wealth of history behind the home by finding old tools, war memorabilia and even blood stains believed shed during the Civil War.

&#8220We knew we wanted something old,” said Curt Follmer. &#8220It really was love at first sight. We were only the fourth family to live there.”

The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was in the Hullum/Mallet family from the time it was built until 1980, when Webber Brewer, a Vicksburg residential developer and veteran renovator, bought it.

&#8220From what I understand it was in terrible shape. I think it was about to be razed,” Follmer said.

After renovating the house, Brewer sold the property to George McMillin in the early ’90s.

&#8220It’s interesting to be able to trace every owner back,” Follmer said.

After settling in, the Follmers started making interesting finds in and around the house.

&#8220The first things we found were these tools that I think date to when the house was built,” he said.

The rusted tools he found included a handmade drill, a scribe and what he originally thought were horses’ combs.

&#8220But then I looked at them a little closer and saw bits of cotton still stuck to them. It turns out they used to pick cotton before the cotton gin was invented,” he said.

&#8220To have something in your hands that was used that many years ago is unbelievable,” he said. &#8220I also found a wooden block plane with a metal blade and an ax that we think were used to build the house.”

Linda Follmer made a few interesting discoveries of her own on the property, too.

&#8220I’ve found both Confederate and Union minie balls – like bullets – all in the grass behind the house,” she said.

&#8220One day I was walking down by the creek behind the pond and saw something sticking out of the water. It was a Confederate spur that was used on horseback,” Linda Follmer said.

Once she realized what it was, she was thrilled.

&#8220I’ve always loved history. It made me curious about who was here, where they were camped out and what they went through back then,” she said.

But it wasn’t until last year that the couple made their biggest find – a discovery that validated rumors they’d heard.

&#8220We had these beautiful hardwood floors throughout the house except for upstairs. There was carpet, but we knew there was wood underneath,” Curt Follmer said.

As the two started pulling up the carpet, they noticed several large stains.

&#8220We had no idea what they were, but we weren’t worried about them. So we hired someone to come in to refinish the floors, and he immediately knew what they were,” he said.

The stains were from blood that had seeped deeply into the wood.

&#8220It kind of gave us the heebie-geebies to know there was blood shed in our house,” he said. &#8220But we knew the history of the house and knew there hadn’t been any murders or anything.”

Follmer said he had heard the house was used as a Union hospital during the Civil War to house an overflow of patients from nearby Redbone Church.

&#8220There was no other logical reason for the stains,” Linda Follmer said. &#8220It’s one reason the house probably wasn’t burned during the war.”

All the discoveries in and around her house made Follmer curious.

&#8220You’ll always be curious about who was here and what happened here. We just have a few clues for our imaginations now,” she said.

They will all be shared with &#8220If Walls Could Talk” shares their story and stories from houses in Natchez and Louisville in the summer.

&#8220It’s the history here that made us choose this house,” said High Noon Entertainment producer Lisa Payne, who was here with a crew last week.

Because about 30 minutes of tape produced only about a minute of good footage, the taping was an all-day affair.

Curt Follmer said the crew came to Vicksburg because he invited them after reading in the newspaper that the show was looking for Vicksburg applicants.

&#8220We thought it was interesting, but we were very surprised when we heard that they wanted to feature us,” he said.

&#8220If Walls Could Talk” airs weekly and features finds made by homeowners during renovations or investigations into a home’s history.

The show has been to Mississippi four times since its first air date in 1998, featuring homes in Holly Springs, Aberdeen, Columbus, Biloxi, Pascagoula, Raymond, Canton and Jackson. The Follmers’ will be the first Vicksburg home featured.