Loudoun History Ashburn History Leesburg History Fairfax History

According to archeologists, the Paleo-Indians were the first humans in Northern Virginia, approximately 10,000 years ago. They used the entire Piedmont region as hunting ground for mammoth and bison, and did not form any permanent settlements at that time. Many of the larger animals that roamed the region had disappeared around 6,000 B.C. due to climate changes so our early hunters went after smaller game using the dart and throwing sticks. Around 2,500 B.C. pottery making skills developed and the use of bow and arrow became prevalent which greatly helped Native Americans in their hunting skills; they could now pursue their game from a much greater distance with more accuracy and success.

There were only about 1,500 Native Americans living in Northern Virginia in the seventeenth century. Several different groups, named Algonquin, lived around what is known today as the “Great Falls” area, on the banks of the Potomac River.   On the North side of the river, towards the western plains, is where the Siouan tribes had settled. The Susquehannocks tribes and the feared Iroquois nation, including Sioux and Dakotas, fought against one another in the Shenandoah Valley for the right to hunt. After the Tuscaroras War of 1711-13 between the early colonists and Native Americans, most Indians moved westward, making permanent settlements by the colonists possible.

Arrival of the Colonists:

The first explorers who entered Loudoun County were Burr Harrison and Giles Vandercastel, around 1700. They were the first white men who encountered the Native Americans of the area. Although the first colony in Virginia was established in Jamestown around 1624, under the reign of James I, most of what is known today as Northern Virginia was settled much later. In 1649, Charles II went into exile to France but the Virginia colonists remained loyal to him, as they were to his father Charles I. As compensation for this loyalty, Charles II granted the entire northern region of Virginia to seven men, which later became known as the Fairfax Proprietary.

The Counties of Prince William, Stafford and Westmoreland were formed between 1653 and 1730. The remaining land which was designated as Fairfax County was further divided into two in 1757, the western portion being called Loudoun. John Campbell Fourth Earl of Loudoun, was a Scottish nobleman, who served as Commander in Chief of all British armed forces in North America and was titular Governor of Virginia from 1756 to 1768. Leesburg was established as the County Seat in 1758, from land originally held by Lord Fairfax. The Town of Leesburg (original plan on the left) was once named "George Town" honoring King George II. The name was later changed in honor of the residing Lee family.

Under ownership of Lord Fairfax, around 1725, permanent settlers arrived form Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Germans from Pennsylvania and New Jersey founded the town of Lovettsville. The Quakers, Germans, Irish and Scots-Irish settled west of the Catoctin Mountains. Quakers formed the settlements of Waterford, Goose Creek (known today as Lincoln), Harmony (today Hamilton) and Union (now Unison). Colonists coming up from Tidewater Virginia also settled in Loudoun County, considered Southern Back Country. They started farming primarily tobacco in eastern Loudoun, but wheat, oats, rye, and corn were also grown. Unlike the settlers to the east, neither of these groups believed in the use of slaves, thus inaugurating a division that would be important in the years leading up to the Civil War.

Around the time of the American Revolution, Leesburg had grown to 14,000 inhabitants. There was great support for the revolution in the city because of their desire to grow. Some tension was created when the Quaker population, due to their religious beliefs, did not favor fighting. The years following the revolution were the most prosperous for Loudoun County, with mills, roads, canals and later railroads (Washington & Old Dominion) built everywhere. The stone, brick, and log architecture of farmhouses is unique to this area of the country, some of which can still be seen in Historic Waterford. 

During the Revolutionary War, Loudoun became the “Breadbasket” of George Washington’s Continental Army and by 1775 it had the largest militia of Virginia. When the British invaded Washington, D.C. during the War of 1812, Loudoun’s county clerk hid many federal documents, including the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, in the vault of a family home. Loudoun was at the time the most prosperous and populous county in Virginia. However, many plantation houses, without the benefit of slavery, fell on hard times after the war. Taxes also rose significantly, since the federal government now required public schools to be built. Many of the famous grand houses of the era, places of great social activity, fell on the auction block.

After the Second World War, new land pioneers arrived in Loudoun County, new communities were established and old mansion houses were restored. By the 1960s the growth spiral of Loundoun County had started. The ultra modern Dulles International Airport soon became a new economic engine, attracting all sorts of activity to the area. Loudoun quickly became one of the fastest growing counties in the US, with new roads and planned communities emerging everywhere.

Ashburn History

The Ashburn area owes its’ origins to 11,182 acres granted to Tidewater speculator Thomas Lee from 1719 to 1728. The city of Leesburg was renamed after Thomas Lee, who later became the acting Governor of Virginia. Lee owned and purchased many parcels of land in the Ashburn area and controlled most of the waterways and canals used for transportation on the Potomac River. Lee and another wealthy businessman by the name of Robert Carter farmed tobacco in the region. But while Lee transported his merchandise via the Potomac River, Carter built roads and controlled many of the mountain passes. Carter built his first road from his tobacco warehouse at Occoquan to Vestal's Gap Road (known today as Route 7). In 1728, Ox Road, (also called Frying Pan Road from Carter's Frying Pan copper mines), was started near present-day Occoquan/Woodbridge and was connected to Vestal's Gap Road in the late 1740s. Ox road was only wide enough for an ox cart to pass through it.

Ashburn was originally called Farmwell, after a 1,230-acre plantation by that name owned by George Lee (a great grandson of Thomas Lee), who inherited the mansion from his father Thomas Ludwell Lee II. After George died in 1805, his property passed on to his son George II, a doctor, who went on to have 23 children with his wife Sarah Moore Henderson.

The elder of the 23 children, a son named George the III, granted a right of way across the plantation to the Alexandria, Loudoun & Hampshire Railroad (later known as Washington & Old Dominion) in 1859. The railroad completely changed Farmwell (later Ashburn) into a commercial village. The 656-acre Farmwell, was eventually divided among George and Sally Lee's 23 children, though unfortunately, the plantation house itself was burnt down in the mid 1980s.

The section of Farmwell plantation west of Ashburn Road, a 580 acre tract, was purchased as a summer home in 1841 by lawyer and almost vice-president John Janney, a Quaker. He called the property Ashburn Farm (first known written document circa 1870 when he sold the property). His mansion was a T-shaped frame house with a ballroom. The dwelling, still in habitable condition, was bulldozed in 1987. Its site is in the middle of Ashburn Park. Today, one looks in vain for anything named for Janney in the Ashburn area.

Senator William Morris Stewart bought Ashburn plantation in 1895. Stewart was known as the "Silver Senator" because he made a half-million dollars in 1856 defending claimants of the Comstock silver lode in Nevada. He was a strong supporter of silver, rather than gold, as the precious metal backing the paper currency.

Stewart turned Ashburn plantation into a large dairy operation and reportedly was the first dairyman in Loudoun to pasteurize milk through steam power. When colleagues and bigwigs came out from Washington, he would deck out his 40-man staff in white and treat guests to a farm tour. At night, entertainment included dancing, complete with a small orchestra, held at the Ashburn house.

The name Ashburn means simply an ash grove or tree by a small brook, however, local legend has it that the village, known until then as Farmwell or Farmwell Station, got a new name after lightning struck an ash tree on Senator Stewart's farm in 1896. The ash tree is rumored to have burned and smoldered for a week and attracted spectators from miles around. The Post Office had been pressing for a new name for the village to avoid confusion with Farmville, a town in Prince Edward County. Since the Senator was the area's leading citizen, the villagers renamed the village after the ash burn.

Too far from Washington to be a railroad suburb, during its heyday, 1880-1920, Ashburn grew into the largest commercial center in Loudoun County east of Leesburg. It was also a summer resort for people escaping the heat of the city. President Woodrow Wilson is said to have traveled to Ashburn on occasion, to relax in the area and enjoy the upscale hotels and restaurants the town had to offer.The Ashburn House, built in 1882, and now a purple-painted private residence, was a popular hotel frequented by fisherman desirous of trying the excellent bass fishing in nearby Goose Creek.

Ashburn is home to four landmarks on the National Register of Historic Places: Belmont Plantation (1799), the Broad Run Bridge and Toll House (1820), the sanctuary of Ashburn Presbyterian Church (1878), and Janelia Farm (1936).

Today, Ashburn's population is slightly over 95,000 as of 2010 and is one of the largest unincorporated areas of Loudoun County. Many of its residents commute into Washington, D.C. and the surrounding suburbs such as Tysons Corner and Reston to their places of employment.

Ashburn area consists of many major and minor subdivisons, namely: Ashbrook, Ashburn Farm, Ashburn Village, Brambleton, Broadlands, Loudoun Valley Estates, Lansdowne Resort, Farmwell Hunt, The Courts and Ridges at Ashburn, Belmont Greene, Belmont Country Club and the Village of Waxpool are a few among them.

The Belmont Manor House
 
Set on the highest point in eastern Loudoun County is a stately mansion with commanding views in every direction of the countryside and the Blue Ridge Mountains. From this spectacular vantage point, the Belmont Manor House has witnessed history unfold and stood proudly as a symbol of tradition and prosperity.

Built in 1799 by Ludwell Lee, whose father was a signer of the Declaration of  Independence, the Belmont Manor House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. James Madison called the Belmont property home, as did a number of other notable figures of the 19th and 20th centuries, including the McLean family, owners of the famed Hope Diamond. he area is also home to a rich equestrian tradition, including steeplechase racing and fox hunting, that dates back to early colonial times.

Sources:

Scheel, Eugene. Loudoun County Historian, “The History of Loudoun County Virginia,” http://www.loudounhistory.org

Ashburn Web, “Ashburn History,” http://www.ashburnweb.com/history/index.htm

Loudoun Museum, “History of Loudoun County,” http://www.loudounmuseum.org/history.html

Jacobson, Erika. “Loudoun's Early Beginnings,” http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=76383&paper=67&cat=180

Belmont Country Club, “History of the Belmont Manor House,” http://www.belmontcountryclub.com/history.shtml