USA > Virginia > Loudoun County > Loudoun County > History and comprehensive description of Loudoun County, Virginia > Part 6
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The system did not originate solely in a local want or de- mand along the lines contemplated. Other causes were also at the bottom of the movement. The settlement of the County was necessarily by progressive though, at times, apparently simultaneous steps. First came the settlement and location of one or two towns, and the opening of communication between them; then the advent of the trapper, hunter, and scout into the unsettled portion; then came the land grants and the settlement in isolated localities; then the blazed trail to the parent towns and to the cabin of the pioneer or the outposts; then the drift-ways, cart-ways, and the local roads winding from cabin to cabin; then the town-ways and county roads, with here and there the "provincial " highways.
Today, the public roads and turnpikes of Loudoun are un- questionably better than those of most counties and, in obedience to a popular demand, are kept in a fair state of repair. One or two of the main-traveled thoroughfares would compare favorably with the best rural roads in the country.
Long before the Civil War, Little River was rendered navigable from its mouth to Aldie by means of a lock and dam system, this and more far-reaching improvements hav- ing been undertaken by the "Goose Creek and Little River Navigation Company" capitalized at $100,000. The dams were destroyed by Federal invaders and never reconstructed.
Loudoun is traversed by the Washington and Ohio Divi- sion of the Southern Railway, which penetrates the County
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LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA.
centrally from east to west and furnishes an utlet for her immense shipments of cattle, grain and misc llaneous prod- ucts. No less than twelve stopping points are recognized within her limits, at all but three of which commodious stations have been erected.
The original purpose of the promoters was to extend this road to the coal-fields of Hampshire County, West Virginia (then in Virginia). The name under which it was incorpo- rated was the "Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Rail- road." During the Civil War its bridges and tracks were destroyed by order of General Lee and for some years after- ward Loudoun was without adequate railway communica- tion with the outside world.
The cost of construction between Alexandria and Lees- burg, the first division of the work, was $1,538,744. The line, many years afterward, was extended to Round Hill and still later to Bluemont, at present the Westernmost terminal. Stages, affording communication with Winchester and inter- mediate towns of the Shenandoah Valley, are operated from this point and between Leesburg and Middleburg and Point of Rocks. Liveries are conducted in all the important towns.
The northern edge of the County is in easy communication with the main line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Chesapeake and Ohio canal just across the Potomac.
Large steel bridges, spanning the Potomac at Harpers Ferry, Brunswick and Point of Rocks, afford convenient ingress into West Virginia, Maryland and the not far-distant state of Pennsylvania.
Further communication with the north is made possible by a ferry (White's) in constant operation between Loudoun and the Maryland shore.
TOWNS AND VILLAGES. Leesburg.
Leesburg, a fine old town, the county-seat of Loudoun, lies at the eastern base of Catoctin Mountain, 21/2 miles from the Potomac River at Balls Bluff, and 378 miles west of Goose
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HISTORY OF
Creek. It is in the northern part of the County, 40 miles northwest of Washington, 153 miles in a like direction from Richmond, the State capital, within a few miles of the pic- turesque Blue Ridge Mountains and the celebrated Valley of Virginia, 12 miles from Point of Rocks, Md., and about 22 miles from historic Harpers Ferry, W. Va. It occupies a high and healthy plain, the environs of which are waving and well cultivated and delightfully variegated by hill and dale.
The town derives its name from the Lees, who were among the early settlers of the County, and was established by act of the General Assembly, in September, 1758, in the thirty-second year of the reign of George II. Nicholas Minor, who owned sixty acres of land about the court-house, had subdivided this tract and some of the lots had been built upon prior to the pas- sage of the act. This instrument constituted "the Hon. Philip Ludwell Lee, Esq., Thomas Mason, Esq., Francis Lightfoot Lee (father of 'Light Horse Harry' of subsequent Revolu- tionary fame), James Hamilton, Nicholas Minor, Josias Clap- ham, Æneas Campbell, John Hugh, Francis Hague, and William West, gentlemen," trustees for the newly established town. Prior to its establishment it had borne the name Georgetown, bestowed in honor of the then reigning English monarch.
*"In its birth and infancy the town was destined to win re- nown, for it was first founded as a fort or outpost of the then struggling colony of Virginia, as its narrow streets and close, little red brick houses still testify, and for many years was the most westerly post of the colony, At one time the entire town was enclosed by stockades.
"Following its establishment the little fort became the principal outfitting post for the British and colonial forces in the French and Indian war. Tradition still fondly points to the stone house, famous as the headquarters of General Braddock, who, it is claimed, passed through the place on his last fatal march to the wilderness; but in the light of thorough investigation this claim is found to be unsubstantiated.
*Mrs. A. H. Throckmorton in the Richmond Times.
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LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA.
While a division of his army, under command of the eccentric old Sir Peter Halkett, did undoubtedly spend the night at the plantation of Nicholas Minor, the principal founder of the town, General Braddock is found to have gone in another direction."
Leesburg is governed by a mayor and common council and had at the time of the last government census (1900) a popu- lation of 1,513. An unusual percentage of its people are well educated, and all proverbially hospitable.
The houses, many of which are of brick and stone construc- tion, are built in a compact and substantial manner. In the town and its environs are many of the most palatial residences to be seen in Virginia. There are several well-kept public roads leading from the town to the surrounding country seats and stock farms, nearly all of which are modernized reminders of the old plantation days.
With an elevation less than most points in the County, Lees- burg, nevertheless, shares with them the distinction of being unsurpassed for healthfulness and picturesqueness of sur- roundings.
Crossing at right angles, its streets are regular and spacious and lighted by electricity. Many of its dwellings and busi- ness houses are also equipped with electric lighting facilities, power for which is generated at a plant located near Belmont, on Goose Creek, and controlled by Leesburg capitalists. In almost every quarter of the town are brick and granolithic sidewalks, fringed with the usual varieties of shade trees.
Some of the municipal advantages not already enumerated are a sewerage system, a fire department, a public library, police protection and a thoroughly modern system of water-works of a capacity sufficient to supply the entire corporation with absolutely pure water from a noted spring issuing near the base of Catoctin Mountain.
Some of the public buildings are a town hall, one of the largest brick edifices in Northern Virginia; a comparatively new court-house and a clerk's office,* both venerable structures
*Prior to 1873, the Leesburg Academy.
45-6
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HISTORY OF
with imposing façades lending them an exquisite air of Colo- nialism, the two liberally disposed over a fenced area with sloping lawns and umbrageous shade; a brick jail (County) containing eight steel cells, commodious residential quarters for the jailer and his family and having, as an humanitarian feature, a sunny court with towering walls; a remodelled brick academy and a colored school, both comprising primary, inter- mediate, and high school divisions, and provided with ample educational facilities and extensive playgrounds.
The town has 7 churches representing all the leading denom- inations, a Young Men's Christian Association branch, 5 fra- ternal orders and a weekly newspaper. Eight trains arrive at and depart from Leesburg daily.
Among the local enterprises are two handsome banking houses (the "Loudoun National Bank" and "Peoples Na- tional Bank"), 2 large hotels affording accommodations for 130 guests, several boarding houses, stores handling every class and grade of merchandise, an artificial ice plant with a daily capacity of 5 tons, a large race course on the outskirts of the town where are held annually a horse show, races and other like events, a confectionery and bakery, an ice cream factory, a pop factory, two harness factories, a lumber and planing mill, 2 private schools, 3 cobblers' establishments, 2 livery stables, 3 blacksmith shops, 2 furniture houses, 2 under- taking establishments, 2 grain elevators, a lime quarry, 3 wheelwright shops, 2 tinning establishments, a concrete con- struction plant, monument works, wood and coal yard, Stand- ard Oil Company's branch and packing house.
Leesburg probably has more than the usual number of res- ident physicians, lawyers, and mechanics to be found in towns of a corresponding size.
Round Hill.
Round Hill, a thriving railway town in the western part of the County, lies 3 miles east of Bluemont, 3 miles west of Purcellville, and 53 miles from the city of Washington. It
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LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA.
is the second largest town in Loudoun, has an elevation of about 600 feet above mean tide and is in the midst of a rich farming region abounding with streams of pure water from mountain water-courses. The town's name is derived from a conical hill projecting from the base of the Blue Ridge Moun- tains, 2 miles away. It has a population of 450, 20 of which number are merchants and mechanics, and a newly established bank.
Waterford.
Waterford, a thriving Quaker settlement, is situated on Catoctin Creek in the northern part of the County, 6 miles south of Taylorstown, 7 miles northwest of Leesburg, 47 miles in a like direction from Washington and 159 miles north of Richmond. It was named after the town of Waterford, in Ireland, where some of its founders had formerly resided. The first house within the town limits was built by one Asa Moore, and remains standing at the present day. In common with the other towns and villages of the famous Loudoun Valley, Waterford is noted for its numerous and inexhaustible wells of the purest and best water, bracing air and low mortality rate. It has 383 inhabitants, 14 of whom are merchants and mechanics.
Hamilton.
Hamilton, one of the prettiest towns in the County, is spread over a considerable area and occupies one of the highest points in the beautiful Loudoun Valley. It is about 46 miles by rail from Washington, 3 miles from Purcellville and only a few . miles from both the Catoctin and Blue Ridge mountains, walling the valley to the east and west, and is the center of a group of seven towns and villages within a radius of 5 miles. It has 364 inhabitants, of which number 18 are merchants and mechanics.
Purcellville.
Purcellville, in the western part of the County with an approximate elevation of 500 feet, is about 50 miles from
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HISTORY OF
Washington, 3 miles from both Round Hill and Hamilton, and 21/2 miles from Lincoln. It is delightfully situated in the center of one of the finest agricultural districts in the Loudoun Valley and has a population of 300, 17 merchants and me- chanics and a national bank.
Middleburg.
Middleburg, situated on Goose Creek in the southwestern part of Loudoun, is 12 miles from the summit of the Blue Ridge at Ashby's Gap, 5 miles west of Aldie, 14 of a mile from the Fauquier line, and 16 miles by stage from Leesburg, the seat of government. It is a growing and prosperous com- munity, elevated and airy and overlooking a broad expanse of rich territory. Fourteen of its 296 inhabitants are merchants and mechanics.
Ashburn.
Ashburn, a railway town in lower Loudoun, formerly known as Farmwell, is 34 miles from Washington, 31 miles from Alexandria, 4 miles northwest of Sterling, and 6 miles from Leesburg. It is in the heart of one of the richest and most extensive dairying sections of the State, and has become some- what famous as a resort for anglers, the bass fishing in Goose Creek, near by, being eminently satisfying and attracting many devotees of the sport from Washington and other more distant points.
Bluemont.
Bluemont, formerly known as Snickersville, is an attractive village, snugly and advantageously situated at the south- eastern base of the Blue Ridge Mountains, about 3 miles from Round Hill, 54 miles by rail from Washington, and 165 miles from Richmond. It is on the western edge of the most densely populated section of Loudoun, and boasts modern hotels and boarding houses, two liveries, a grain elevator, and many hand- some dwellings. Two turnpikes, leading from Washington
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LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA.
and Alexandria to Winchester, intersect at this point. Blue- mont is a popular summer resort, and lies within a very short distance of both the " Bears' Den " and "Raven Rocks," jut- ting points on the western slope of the Blue Ridge, from which magnificent views may be had of the Shenandoah valley and river and the Alleghany and North mountains. The town has a population of 200, 14 of which number are merchants and mechanics.
Smaller Towns.
Other towns, post villages and settlements in the County are: Airmont, 21/2 miles from Bluemont, population 25; Aldie, on Little River, 5 miles from both Middleburg and Oatlands and 12 miles from Leesburg, the County seat, population 155, 7 merchants and mechanics; Arcola, 6 miles from Sterling and 12 miles from Leesburg, population 100, 4 merchants and mechanics; Belmont Park, a small railway station on the east bank of Goose Creek about 4 miles east of Leesburg, formerly a picturesque resort and popular excursion point managed by the old Richmond and Danville Railroad Company, attracting, during the few years of its operation, many thousands of visitors; Bloomfield, 7 miles from Round Hill, population 50; Britain, 8 miles from Purcellville, population 15; Clarkes Gap, one of the highest and healthiest points in the County and an important shipping point, draining a large extent of fertile country, 4 miles west of Leesburg, population 25; Conklin, 10 miles from Sterling, population 10; Daysville, 2 miles from Sterling, population 20; Elvan, 1 mile from Lov- ettsville, population 18; Evergreen Mills, 7 miles from Lees- burg, population 10; Georges Mill, in the extreme northwest- ern part of the County; Hillsboro, 5 miles by stage from Pur- cellville, population 131, 9 merchants and mechanics; Hughes- ville, 7 miles from Leesburg, population 12; Irene, on the Southern Railway one mile from Hamilton and the railroad station for that town, population 20; Leithton, 8 miles from Purcellville and Round Hill, population 25; Lenah, 3 miles
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HISTORY OF
west of Arcola, population 25; Levy, on Bull Run. 3 miles south of Aldie; Lincoln, 21/2 miles southeast of Purcellville, in the heart of the "Quaker Settlement," population 200, 3 mer- chants and mechanics; Lovettsville, 212 or 3 miles south of Brunswick, Md., and 7 miles from both Waterford and Har- pers Ferry, W. Va., in an industrious and progressive German neighborhood, population 97, 16 merchants and mechanics; Luckets, 5 miles from Point of Rocks, Maryland, and 7 miles from Leesburg, population 50, 8 merchants and mechanics; Lunette, 4 miles south of Arcola, population 10; Mahala, 2 miles from Ashburn, population 15; Mechanicsville; Mountain Gap, 412 miles by stage from Leesburg, population 25; Mount Gilead, a centrally and charmingly situated village on Catoc- tin Mountain about 8 miles respectively from the towns of Leesburg, Middleburg and Aldie, population 50; Mountville, a small settlement in a neighborhood abounding with best quality lime and other minerals, 212 miles southeast of Philo- mont and about 112 miles from both the waters of Goose Creek and Beaver Dam, population 25; Morrisonville, 6 miles by stage from Brunswick, Maryland, and 4 miles from Lov- ettsville, population 20; Neersville, 5 miles by stage from Har- pers Ferry, W. Va., population 25; North Fork, 6 miles from Purcellville, population 26; Oatlands, bordering on Catoctin Mountain 7 miles southwest of Leesburg and 5 miles north of Aldie, population 20; Pæonian Springs, 1 mile northwest of Clarke's Gap, population 112, 6 merchants and mechanics; Paxson, an exceptionally healthy community 2 miles east of Bluemont, population 15; Philomont, a Quaker settlement lying 3 miles southeast of Silcott Springs in a fertile and wealthy wheat-growing neighborhood, population 161; Royville, 2 miles north of Arcola; Ryan, 2 miles south of Ashburn, popu- lation 50; Silcott Springs, a one-time noted resort 312 miles southwest of Purcellville, population 25; Sycoline, between 4 and 5 miles south of Leesburg; Stumptown, 2 miles from Luckets, population 20; Taylorstown, 3 miles southwest of Point of Rocks, Md., population 50; Trapp, 5 miles from Blue- mont, population 36; Unison, 6 miles from Bluemont and 9
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LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA.
miles from Purcellville, population 100, 3 merchants and me- chanics; Watson, 9 miles from Leesburg, population 10; Waxpool, 212 miles north of Royville and 8 miles from Lees- burg, population 25; Welbourne, about 5 miles northeast of Upperville, in Fauquier county; Wheatland, 5 miles from both Hamilton and Purcellville, population 25; Willard, 5 miles southwest of Herndon, in Fairfax county, and Woodburn, 3 miles from Leesburg, population 15.
Statistiral.
AREA AND FARMING TABULATIONS.
The area of Loudoun County is variously reckoned at 460, 468, 495, 504, 510, 519, 520, and 525 square miles. The approximate accuracy of any single estimate in this confused assortment can not easily be determined, none, so far as is known, having been officially confirmed. Yardley Taylor, who, in 1853, made a most careful survey of the County, fixed its area at 525 square miles. By far the most trustworthy authority in this and certain other connections, his findings have been adopted with little uncertainty or hesitation.
Of this number, 207 square miles lie east of Catoctin Mountain and are of the upper secondary formation, while the remaining 318 square miles to the westward are of primi- tive formation.
The longest line across the County is 35 miles, and extends from the lower end of Lowe's Island at the old mouth of Sugarland Run, to the summit of the Blue Ridge at Ashby's Gap; the second longest, 34 miles, extends from the corner of Jefferson County, West Virginia, at the margin of the Potomac River below Harpers Ferry, to the corner of Fairfax County on Bull Run, within half a mile of Sudley Springs in Prince William County.
(81)
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HISTORY OF
Within the limits of Loudoun are included 313,902* acres of the finest farm land to be found in any county of the State. The farms number 1,948, the average size being 162 acres. They are smallest in the northwestern portion of the county and of moderate size in the central portions, the largest occurring in the southern and eastern portions. In 1900, 1,754, or 90 per cent, were operated by white farmers, and 194, or 10 per cent, operated by colored farmers.
TABLE I .- Summary by Decades of the Improved and Unimproved Land in Farms, with per cent of Increase and Decrease.
Acres of Land in Farms.
Per cent of Increase.
Census Year.
Total.
Im- proved.
Unim- proved.
Total Land.
Im- proved Land.
Unim- proved Land.
1900.
313,902
251,874
62,028
6.4
6.9
4.8
1890.
294,896
235,703
59,193
*1.3
1.4
*11.
1880
298,869
232,391
66.478
8.2
15.1
*10.7
1870
276,291
201,888
74,403
*6.7
*8.3
*1.9
1860
296,142
220,266
75,876
. 5
5.7
*1.2
18 50
294,675
208,454
86,221
*Decrease.
The most striking fact to be noted concerning the reported farm areas is the comparatively great decrease in the decade 1860 to 1870. This was, of course, one of the disastrous effects of the Civil War, from which the South, in general, after more than forty-five years, has not yet fully recovered, as is shown by the fact that in some of the South Atlantic states the reported acreage of farm land in 1900 was less than it was in 1860.
A continuous increase is shown in the area of improved farm land except in the decade 1860-1870. The decrease in the amount under cultivation, reported in the census of
*It will be understood that the total land in farms by no means equals the total area of the County.
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LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA.
1870, was due to conditions growing out of the change in the system of labor which prevented a complete rehabilitation of agricultural industry.
Only three other of the 100 Virginia counties reported larger improved areas in 1900, viz: Fauquier, 291.734 acres; Pittsylvania, 280,456 and Augusta, 276,459.
TABLE II .- Number of Farms by Decades: Summary, 1850 to 1900.
1900
1,948
1870 1,238
1890
1,818
1860
1,207
1880
1,41
1850
1,256
Comparison of the number of farms reported in 1850 with the number at the last census shows an addition in fifty years of 692 farms.
The great increase between 1870 and 1880 is seen at a glance. During this period the large plantations were steadily undergoing partition, in consequence of the social and indus- trial changes in progress after the Civil War.
TABLE III .- Farms Classified by Area-1900.
Under 3 acres 22
100 and under 175 acres 396
3 and under 10 acres
155
175 and under 260 acres 324
10 and under 20 acres 171
260 and under 500 acres. 274
20 and under 50 acres. 246 500 and under 1,000 acres 88
50 and under 100 acres 264 1,000 acres and over 8
TABLE IV .- Number of Farms of Specified Tenures, June 1, 1900.
Owners
1,116
Managers 48
Part owners.
173
Cash tenants.
232
Owners and tenants
18 Share tenants 361
Total
1,948
POPULATION.
The persistent high price of Loudoun lands has discour- aged increase of population by immigration. Indeed, in more than eighty-five years, except for the slight fluctuations of
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HISTORY OF
certain decades, there has been no increase through any medium.
The last census (1900) fixed Loudoun's population at 21,948, of which number 16,079 were whites, 5,869 negroes, ind the remaining 101 foreign born. This aggregate is even ess than that shown by the census of 1820, which gave the county a population of 22,702, or 754 more than in 1900.
The succeeding schedules, giving complete statistics of popu- ation for Loudoun County by the latest and highest author- ty, were taken from United States Census reports, collected n 1900 and published in 1902.
Population, Dwellings, and Families:
1900.
Private Families.
Population
21,948
Number.
4,195
Dwellings
4,157
Population
21,690
Families
4,231
Average size
5.2
Private Families Occupying Owned and Hired and Free and Encum- bered Homes, 1900.
Total private families
4,195
Farm Homes Owned.
Other Homes Owned.
Free
959
Free 622
Encumbered
257
Encumbered
147
Unknown 120
Unknown
81
Hired
648
Hired. 1,169
Unknown
7
Unknown.
185
Total
1,991
Total
2,204
Native and Foreign Born and White and Colored Population, Classified by Sex, 1900.
Native born.
Native White-Foreign Parents.
Male
10,634
Male
114
Female 11,213
Female 121
Foreign born.
Foreign White.
Male
59
Male
58
Female
42
Female 42
Native White-Native Parents.
Total Colored.
Male
7,583
Male
2,938
Female 8,161
Female
2,931
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LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA.
In 1860, one year before the outbreak of the Civil War, the County held within its boundaries 21,774 souls: 15,021 white, 5,501 slave, and 1,252 free colored. In number of slaves at this period Loudoun ranked thirty-sixth in the list of Virginia counties which then also included the counties now in West Virginia. This number was distributed amongst 670 slave- holders in the following proportions:
1 slave
124
9 slaves 22
2 slaves.
84
10 and under 15 slaves. 80
3 slaves.
61
15 and under 20 slaves. 36
4 slaves.
83
20 and under 30 slaves 23
5 slaves.
46
30 and under 40 slaves.
4
6 slaves
39 40 and under 50 slaves.
4
7 slaves.
35 50 and under 70 slaves. 1
8 slaves
27
100 and under 200 slaves. 1
The following table gives the population of Loudoun County decennially, from and including the first official census of 1790:
1900
21,948
1840
20,431
1890
23,274
1830
21,939
1880
23,634
1820
22,702
1870
20,929
1810
21,338
1860
21,774
1800
20,523
1850
22,079
1790
18,952
The reports of population by magisterial districts given below, with a single exception, show an appreciable decrease between the years 1890 and 1900:
1900.
1890.
Broad Run district.
3,309
3,463
Jefferson district ..
3,106
3,307
Leesburg district.
4,299
4,246
Lovettsville district
3,104
3,210
Mercer district.
4,010
4,570
Mt. Gilead district
4,120
4,478
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HISTORY OF
The following incorporated towns for the same period are charged with a corresponding decrease in the number of their inhabitants:
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