r e v o c s i D LOUDOUN
THE GUIDE TO LOUDOUN COUNTY
Our Communities Then & Now
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3 LOUDOUN NOW | Discover Loudoun | SEPTEMBER 2016 Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now
The annual Loudoun County Fair is a popular summer destination that offers a glimpse of the county’s agricultural roots. Here, the Virts family nudges a stubborn sheep to be weighed in at the fair in July.
LOUDOUN COUNTY: FROM 1757 TO 2016 BY MARGARET MORTON & RENSS GREENE Loudoun County will turn 260 years old next June. In the sweep of its two-and-a-half century history, Loudoun has gone from a rural, agricultural county peopled by Tidewater planters, Irish, Scots-Irish, Quakers, Germans and both free and enslaved black people to an urban, high-tech society, whose landscape now boasts high-rise apartments, data centers and six-lane highways—where grain mills, bustling villages, gravel roads and farms once dotted the area. The Loudoun we know today began taking shape hundreds of years before the jurisdiction’s lines were ever drawn. When John Smith sailed up the Potomac River in the early 1600s, he found Sioux living west of the mountains and Algonkian living to the east. By the time he arrived, however, migration and instability caused by the first European explorers on the continent had already caused upheaval among the Native Americans in the area. Previous cultures and crafts from the area had already been lost during the 1500s.
LOUDOUN BY THE NUMBERS 520 SQUARE MILES
375,629
2016 POPULATION
417,700
PROJECTED 2020 POPULATION BY RACE 69.8% WHITE 13.6 % LATINO 18% ASIAN 7.9% BLACK
35.4
MEDIAN AGE
Both the Sioux and Algonkian peoples were largely peaceful; the Sioux hunted and lived a nomadic lifestyle, while the Algonkian farmed. By 1670, the more aggressive Susquehannock tribes had driven the Sioux from western Loudoun, and were battling with the Iroquois for control of trails to the south. The main trading area among the Native Americans in what would become Loudoun was along the Potomac near Point of Rocks, Maryland. In 1722, the Treaty of Albany between Lieutenant Governor of Virginia Alexander Spotswood and the Iroquois opened the way for European settlement in the western areas of Loudoun. The Iroquois agreed to stay north of the Potomac and west of the Blue Ridge. Where once the population was mostly clustered in the small towns of western Loudoun, the population in the large planned communities of eastern Loudoun now far outpaces that of the west. Early tobacco plantations gave way to large dairy farms and then to housing. Loudoun was among the top dairy producers in Virginia in the 1950s, but homes have replaced four-legged bovines in those former pastures. LOUDOUN COUNTY >> 4
INSIDE
COUNTY GOVERNMENT ............ 5
SCHOOLS ............................... 12 LEESBURG .............................. 17 WESTERN LOUDOUN ................24
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[ LOUDOUN COUNT Y THEN & NOW ] << FROM 3 It’s a startling transformation, all the more so because most of it has occurred over the past 50 years, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s. Sterling Park, the county’s first planned community, opened in 1963. The population for the county’s first 200 years stayed fairly constant at around 20,000. Today’s population is estimated at 373,694, more than double the population in 2000. It all began when Fairfax County was divided to form Loudoun County in 1757. Ironically, the county gets its name from an intemperate Scottish nobleman who was Commander-in-Chief and Governor General of Virginia, but who never set foot in either Virginia or Loudoun. Gen. John Campbell, fourth Earl of Loudoun, arrived in New York in 1756 with lashings of wine, silverware and china, along with 19 horses, 17 personal servants and his mistress. Known more for his organizational army reforms than his military prowess, Lord Loudoun was recalled after two years. That year, 1758, saw the establishment of “George Town,” quickly renamed Leesburg, after the influential legislator Thomas Lee, at the intersection of the north-south Old Carolina trading route and the colonial Potomac Ridge Road. From an initial layout of 60 houses, the town has grown over the past 258 years to a population of more than 50,000. There are seven incorporated towns in Loudoun—Leesburg, Hamilton,
Hillsboro, Lovettsville, Middleburg, Purcellville and Round Hill—but many of the smaller communities in western Loudoun were thriving agricultural centers up until the Civil War. Although Loudoun County had many Union supporters in the Civil War—particularly in Waterford and Lovettsville, which had voted against secession—the fertile Loudoun Valley and the county’s location on the Potomac River close to Washington, DC, made it critically important to the Confederacy. Because the county had divided loyalties, local conflicts raged in the county even when major armies and battles were far away. In 1864, Union General Ulysses S. Grant ordered General Philip Sheridan to raid the Loudoun Valley. Sheridan dispatched Major General Wesley Merritt and his cavalry, who laid waste to the valley, destroying crops and driving off or slaughtering livestock. Fitzhugh Turner wrote in 1961 in his Loudoun County and the Civil War: A County Divided that “Loudoun County suffered possibly more severely during the Civil War than any Virginia County in which no major engagement was fought.” The county, particularly the western sector, suffered badly in that war as Union forces—despite the jabs inflicted by Confederate partisan leader Col. John Singleton Mosby—constantly raided farms, driving off stock and burning buildings. But prosperity slowly returned, and the end of World War II brought an
influx of Washington, DC, area residents interested in moving west. The second half of the century also saw the integration of Loudoun schools—a far cry from the racial profile of the county 200 years before. The big growth boom came with the opening of Dulles Airport in 1962 which brought the Dulles Access Road and the Potomac Interceptor sewer line, the latter of which opened eastern Loudoun to suburban development. As dairy farming ebbed, large planned communities including Ashburn Farm, Ashburn Village, Cascades and Brambleton sprung up in their place. In the late 1980s, work began to widen two-lane Rt. 28 serving Dulles Airport. A decade later a company called America Online moved to the corridor—which also included a key intersection on something then called the Information Superhighway. Few residents had email accounts at that time, but the area has developed into Data Center Alley, handling 70 percent of the world’s online traffic, including your credit card transactions and Netflix movies. The privately owned Dulles Greenway opened in 1994, providing a nonstop route from Leesburg to Washington, DC. Loudoun will experience another game-changing milestone transportation in 2020 when the Silver Line extension to Ashburn is scheduled to begin carrying passengers—the county’s first operational rail line in 60 years. Today, Rt. 15 still forms the dividing
line between the urban, built-up east and the more rural western Loudoun. The county’s position this year as (again) Virginia’s fastest growing county is a good omen for the future. Data centers and high-tech companies have replaced the dairy industry, and wineries, craft breweries, farm markets, bed-and-breakfasts and horse and specialty farms are fast replacing traditional farming. Music, the arts and special events are adding an increasing element to the fast-changing Loudoun scene. mmorton@loudounnow.com rgreene@loudounnow.com
ON THE COVER
Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now Thomas Balch Library
Patrons at Dirt Farm Brewery near Bluemont take in a stunning view of the Loudoun Valley, where wine and beer have replaced cattle and corn as the region’s top agricultural products. Inset, women pick apples in an orchard near Purcellville during World War I.
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FROM BOARD OF JUSTICES TO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Loudoun County was created when it was split from Fairfax County in 1757 over protests from Fairfax. It was named for Scottish aristocrat John Campbell, Fourth Earl of Loudoun and Governor General of Virginia from 1756-1758. The first Board of Justices held an organizational meeting on July 12, 1757, to organize the court and begin the work of governing. At that time, Boards of Justices held both administrative and judicial powers. It’s believed that for the first two years while the courthouse was under construction, meetings were held at the home of Nicholas Minor, who owned the tavern and property along present-day Rt. 7 that would become the seed of the Town of Leesburg. After the Civil War, the county was reorganized and the first Board of Supervisors met on Aug. 16, 1870. At that time, the board had five members and elected Josephus Carr to serve as chairman. One supervisor, Harrison Osburn, was not present at the first meeting. In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower selected a site in Sterling for
a second major airport to serve the Washington, DC, area. In 1962, Dulles International Airport opened with three runways and its iconic main terminal building. Since then, Loudoun has seen rapid growth and change. Sterling and Leesburg were the only populated places in the 1960 census. In 1969, population growth prompted the Board of Supervisors to redraw their election districts for the first time since 1870, creating seven districts. In 1975, the county redrew the districts again, creating eight districts; and in 1991 the county created a chairman at-Large position, creating a ninth seat on the Board of Supervisors. In 2000, the census counted 169,599 people in Loudoun, and 2016 estimates show 373,694 people living in in the county, more than double the 2000 population. The county has been planning for Metrorail service to Loudoun since 1996, and in 2012 the Board of Supervisors voted to commit to the project. The Silver Line is expected to open three new stops in Loudoun County
Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now
Clerk of the County Circuit Court Gary Clemens, left, and archivist Eric Larson discuss efforts to create an online database from the centuries of records they have on hand.
Loudoun is one of the few counties with records dating back to its founding, thanks in large part to Clerk of the Court George K. Fox Jr., who served during the Civil War. When Union troops arrived in the county, Fox got permission from the justices to have the county’s records sent out of the county. Today, Loudoun’s Clerk of the Circuit Court is one of the few such offices with a dedicated Historic Records & Deed Research Division, which today continues its work digging through the centuries of history contained in Loudoun’s records.
in 2020, and developers and the county are scrambling to be ready. In 2020, the county anticipates well over 400,000 people will call themselves Loudouners. Today, Loudoun has two faces: a rural west, and a suburban east, divided by a Transition Policy Area acting as a buffer between the two—although those boundaries could be moving soon after the county finishes updating
its comprehensive plan. There are many ways to get involved in Loudoun community and government. With 54 board-appointed advisory boards, commissions, and committees, there is a place for almost every interest and expertise. To find a way to get involved, go to loudoun. gov/advisory-vacancies. —Renss Greene
The Coat of Arms and Flag Loudoun County has both an official Coat of Arms and a flag. The county coat of arms, adopted in 1968, was modeled after that of the county’s namesake, John Campbell, Earl of Loudoun. It was approved by the College of Arms in Loudoun after many years of effort and after making a minor change to Campbell’s coat of arms— changing the spelling of the word “tyme” in Campbell’s motto. The county coat of arms reads “I Byde My Time.”
The county flag was adapted from the coat of arms with nods to the county’s agricultural past. It has a green, indented edging with white drops suggesting milk. The center of the flag has eight alternating red and white fields, with nine wheat symbols in each white field. The indented or “embattled” edging represents the county’s association with the Monroe Doctrine through President James Monroe, who was a resident in Loudoun County, at Oak Hill, at the time the doctrine was written.
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[ GOVERNMENT ]
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[ GOVERNMENT ]
TODAY’S SUPERVISORS Today’s Board of Supervisors has nine members, representing eight election districts and a chairman elected by voters at large. Supervisors serve four-year terms and all run for office in the same year. The election districts are adjusted each decade to maintain approximately equal populations; currently, there are two large western districts covering the county’s rural west and the transitional area, and six smaller districts covering Leesburg and the county’s populous east. In the most recent election in 2015, Loudoun elected its second female chairman at large, its first two black supervisors, and its youngest-ever supervisor. Chairwoman Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large) follows only Chairwoman Dale Polen Myers, who served from 1996 to 1999, as female chairman at large. Supervisor Betty W. Tatum, who represented the now-defunct Guilford District, was twice elected chairman of the board by her colleagues before the county adopted the chairman-at-large position in 1991. The most recent election also saw big turnover on the board; five of the nine supervisors are first-term supervisors. Three supervisors are military veterans.
LOUDOUN THEN&NOW
Thomas Balch Library
Early boards of supervisors (bottom) were made up of five representatives, white men who were farmers and business leaders. This Winslow Williams photograph shows the 1953 Board of Supervisors at the Leesburg Hotel where government meetings were held. County of Loudoun
Modern boards (top), expanded to nine seats in 1991 with the addition of a chairman elected by all county voters, are more diverse. Three women have served as board chairman since 1990 and voters last year elected the county’s first black supervisors.
The board meets at least three times each month except for August. The board meets at 5 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month, holds a public hearing on the Wednesday of the week following the first meeting, and holds a second business meeting on the Thursday of the week following the public hearing. Meetings of the Board of Supervisors are held in the boardroom at the government center at 1 Harrison St. in downtown Leesburg and are open to the public. The county also televises board meetings on Comcast government channel 23, Verizon FiOS channel 40, and open band channel 40, and webcasts meetings at Loudoun.gov. This year the board combined two of its board committees, leaving three standing committees. Board members now serve on the Finance/Government Operations and Economic Development Committee, the Transportation and Land Use Committee, and the Joint Board/School Board Committee, which includes all nine supervisors. Since 2008 supervisors have been paid a $41,200 annual salary. The vice chairman, elected by his colleagues on the board, is paid $45,320. The chairman makes $50,000.
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[ GOVERNMENT ] << FROM 6
Chairwoman Phyllis J. Randall
Chairwoman Phyllis J. Randall (DAt Large) began public service with volunteer work in Loudoun County Public Schools. She worked for more than 15 years as a mental health therapist working with substance abusing offenders in an adult detention center. Randall serves on all three board committees, as well as on the board of directors of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, the Northern Virginia Regional Commission, the Dulles Area Transportation Association, the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, and the Route 28 Transportation Improvement District Commission. She is the current chairman of the Virginia State Board of Corrections. She has a husband and two sons, aged 21 and 18. She was born in Denver, CO, and lives in Lansdowne. Phyllis.Randall@loudoun.gov Staff aides: Jeanine Arnett, Jeanine.Arnett@loudoun.gov Laura TeKroney, Laura.TeKroney@loudoun.gov
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Vice Chairman Ralph M. Buona ASHBURN
Vice Chairman Ralph M. Buona (R-Ashburn) is in his second term as Ashburn District supervisor. A former Air Force captain, he concluded his service at Air Force Space Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, where he managed software development related to early warning missile defense systems. He has worked at Telos Corporation since 1984 and is now the company’s senior vice president of corporate business development. He serves on the board’s finance committee, as well as the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ Climate, Energy and Environment Policy Committee, the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority’s Planning Coordination Advisory Committee, and is the Board’s representative on the Loudoun County Fiscal Impact Committee, the Other Post-Employment Benefits Investment Committee and the Length of Service Awards Program Committee. Buona has served on the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce board of directors since 2005, and is active in trade organizations including
the Homeland Security and Defense Business Council, the Air Force Association, the Navy League, the Army Association, and the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association. He was born in Ashtabula, OH, and lives in Ashburn’s Carisbrooke neighborhood with his wife. He has two children and three grandchildren. Ralph.Buona@loudoun.gov Staff aide: Dorri O’Brien, Dorri.OBrien@loudoun.gov
Supervisor Suzanne M. Volpe ALGONKIAN
League, Detachment #1205; and the Dulles South Alliance. A former U.S. Marine Corps sergeant, Buffington grew up in Berryville and lives in Brambleton. Tony.Buffington@loudoun.gov Staff aide: Shevaun Hochstetler, Shevaun.Hochstetler@loudoun.gov Rachael Chambers, Rachael.Chambers@loudoun.gov Pamela Keegan, Pamela.Keegan@loudoun.gov
Supervisor Ron A. Meyer Jr. BROAD RUN
County Agricultural District Advisory Committee and the Annexation Area Development Policy Committee. He is the vice president of Labor Relations for NECA Inc. and is an arbitrator for the Industrial Relations Council. He previously served on the Loudoun County School Board and is a member of the Loudoun Museum Board of Trustees. Higgins was born in Baltimore, MD, and grew up in Montgomery County, MD. He and his wife live near Waterford and have three daughters and three grandsons. Geary.Higgins@loudoun.gov Staff aides: Stacy Carey, Stacy.Carey@loudoun.gov Mikayla Feil, Mikayla.Feil@loudoun.gov
Supervisor Matthew F. Letourneau DULLES
Supervisor Suzanne M. Volpe (R-Algonkian) is in her second term in office, as well as her second term as chairwoman of the board’s Transportation and Land Use Committee. She represents the board on the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government’s Chesapeake Bay and Water Resources Policy Committee. She also is the board’s representative on the Loudoun County Disability Services Board and the Affordable Dwelling Unit Advisory Board. She has worked both for the federal government and the private sector, specializing in communications, public affairs, marketing and event planning. She has previously served on the Loudoun County Library Board of Trustees, the Loudoun Arts Council, the county Commission on Aging, and the Planning Commission, among other postings. She was born in Vienna and lives in Cascades with her husband and daughter.
Supervisor Ron A. Meyer Jr. (R-Broad Run) serves on the Board’s Transportation and Land Use Committee and represents Loudoun on the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ Air Quality Committee, and the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board. The board’s youngest-ever supervisor, Meyer was elected at 26 years old. He manages a millennial-focused conservative website, Red Alert Politics, for MediaDC, the parent company of the Washington Examiner and Weekly Standard. Before that, he ran his own public relations firm in Northern Virginia, Springboard Media Strategies LLC, and was a spokesman for the conservative nonprofit Young America’ s Foundation in Herndon. Meyer lives with his wife in Loudoun Station in Ashburn, but is relocating to One Loudoun as they prepare for their first child.
Suzanne.Volpe@loudoun.gov Staff aide: Josh Fornwalt, Josh.Fornwalt@loudoun.gov
Ron.Meyer@loudoun.gov Staff aides: Judy McCary, Judy.McCary@loudoun.gov Bobby Klancher, bobby.klancher@loudoun.gov
Supervisor Tony R. Buffington Jr. BLUE RIDGE
Supervisor Geary M. Higgins CATOCTIN
Supervisor Matthew F. Letourneau (R-Dulles) is a second-term supervisor and chairman of the board Finance/ Government Operations and Economic Development Committee. He serves as vice chairman representing Virginia on the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Board of Directors, represents Loudoun on the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, and is chairman of the Route 28 Transportation Improvement District Commission. Letourneau is senior director of Communications and Media for the Institute for 21st Century Energy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Prior to joining the Chamber, he was the Republican communications director for the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and press secretary to U.S. Senator Pete Domenici of New Mexico. He is originally from Shrewsbury, MA. He and his wife and four children live in Little River Commons in Chantilly. Matt.Letourneau@loudoun.gov Staff aides: Monica Filyaw, Monica.Filyaw@loudoun.gov Tom Parker, Tom.Parker@loudoun.gov
Supervisor Kristen C. Umstattd LEESBURG Supervisor Tony R. Buffington Jr. (R-Blue Ridge) works in federal law enforcement in Washington, DC. He serves on the Finance/Government Operations and Economic Development Committee, is one of Loudoun’s two representatives on the Northern Virginia Regional Commission and represents Loudoun on the Coalition of Loudoun Towns. He is a member of the Fraternal Order of Police’s Loudoun-Dulles Lodge #69; the Loudoun County Marine Corps
Supervisor Geary M. Higgins (R-Catoctin) is in his second term as the Catoctin District supervisor. He serves as co-chair of the Joint Board of Supervisors/School Board Committee and is a member of the Board’s Transportation and Land Use Committee. He represents Loudoun County on the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ Human Services and Public Safety Committee, the Potomac Watershed Roundtable, and serves as the Board’s representative on the Loudoun
Supervisor Kristen C. Umstattd (D-Leesburg) is serving her first term on the county board. She serves on the BOARD OF SUPERVISORS >> 10
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[ GOVERNMENT ] Supervisor Koran T. Saines board’s Transportation and Land Use STERLING
<< FROM 8
Committee, and is one of the Board’s representatives on the Annexation Area Development Policy Committee and on the Family Services Board. She has previously served as president, Virginia Association of Planning District Commissions; chair, Northern Virginia Regional Commission; Northern Virginia Transportation Authority; Northern Virginia Transportation Coordinating Council; Dulles Area Transportation Association; chair, Towns’ Association of Northern Virginia; Coalition of Loudoun Towns Advisory Committee; Loudoun Hospital Executive Council; trustee, Journey Through Hallowed Ground; and Commander, American Legion Post 34. A former Naval Reserve lieutenant, she joined the Central Intelligence Agency after leaving the Naval Reserve to translate Soviet naval documents into English. She served on the Leesburg Town Council from 1992 to 2016. She served as Leesburg mayor between 2002 and 2016, when she resigned to take office as county supervisor. A native of Philadelphia, PA, she and her husband and daughter now live in Leesburg. She and her husband practice law in Leesburg. Kristen.Umstattd@loudoun.gov Staff aide: Valerie Suzdak, Valerie.Suzdak@loudoun.gov
Supervisor Koran T. Saines (D-Sterling) serves on the Board’s Finance/ Government Operations and Economic Development Committee and represents Loudoun on the Northern Virginia Manpower Consortium Workforce Investment Board. He also serves as one of Loudoun’s representatives on the Route 28 Transportation Improvement District Commission and is one of the Board’s representatives on the Family Services Board. He works in human resources at Washington Gas. He has previously served as an election officer, including as chief election officer in 2014. Saines was born in Fairfax and attended Broad Run High School. He and his son live in Chatham Green. Koran.Saines@loudoun.gov Staff aides: Matthew Leslie, Matthew.Leslie@loudoun.gov Jacqueline Pujol, Jacqueline.Pujol@loudoun.gov
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THE PLANNING COMMISSION The Legacy of Vinton L. Pickens Loudoun’s Planning Commission is the creation of one of Loudoun’s most energetic and influential women, artist and activist Vinton L. Pickens. Born Jan. 1, 1900, in Charlotte, NC, she moved to Loudoun with her husband, the author and journalist Robert Pickens, in 1934. She purchased property in Ashburn and had Janelia Farms, named for her daughters Jane and Cornelia, built. The farm property is now the Janelia Research Campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. In reaction to the proliferation of roadside signs in the 1930s, Pickens’ work led to the county’s anti-billboard ordinance, one of the first in the county, and the predecessor to today’s relatively strict sign ordinances in Loudoun. She also created the county zoning department by persuading the Board of Supervisors to appoint a planning commission, which she then served on for 21 years, from 1940 to 1961. In 1978, the Board of Supervisors appointed Pickens as one of the three founding members of the Art Display Advisory Committee, which today is called the Art Advisory Committee, and still schedules exhibitions of work by local artists in the government center. Pickens died in 1993. Today, her artwork is on display in public and private collections across the country, and her stamp on the county lives on in the Loudoun Sketch Club, which she founded in 1944, and the Planning Commission and Department of Planning and Zoning, which can trace their origin to her work. Today, the Planning Commission is involved in work to update the county’s comprehensive plan. That plan will guide development in the county for the next 20 to 30 years,
Thomas Balch Library
From right, Vinton L. Pickens is congratulated by Board of Supervisors Chairman Betty W. Tatum and Vice Chairman Chuck Bos on the occasion of her 90th birthday during a reception at her home Janiella in 1990.
and consists of the General Plan, last revised in 2001; the Countywide Transportation Plan, which was updated in 2010; and a number of strategic plans on specific topics and areas, such as the Bicycle and Pedestrian Mobility Master Plan, the Heritage Preservation Plan, and the Arcola Area/Rt. 50 Corridor Plan. Planning Commission Chairman Jeff Salmon (Dulles) and Vice Chairwoman Kathy Blackburn (Algonkian), lead a stakeholders committee that is reviewing the plan right now. The commission will then work on the plan when the stakeholders committee has concluded its work before passing it to the Board of Supervisors. The Planning Commission meets as called by the chairman or two commissioners. Public hearings are advertised in local media. To see the county government master calendar, including Planning Commission meetings, go to loudoun.gov/calendar.aspx. –Renss Greene
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ServIce, SavIngS and SolutIonS Since 1905
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CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICES The county’s Board of Supervisors grabs most of the headlines, but there are five elected constitutional officers who also have a big impact on the county’s quality of life. They are elected by voters countywide and serve somewhat independently of the general county government, although their office staffing, expenditures and revenues are included in the general county budget. Each officer serves a four-year term, except for the Clerk of the Circuit Court, who serves an eight-year term.
Clerk of the Circuit Court Gary Clemens was first elected as the Clerk of the Circuit Court in 2000 as the first Republican to hold the office. He is in his third eightyear term. The clerk serves as Clemens the recorder of deeds and probate judge, issues marriage licenses and is the official court administrator for all civil and criminal court cases. The clerk’s office creates and maintains all court files and records, prepares court orders and jury lists, contacts jurors and issues summons and
court processes. The office has a staff of 47 full-time equivalent positions and a $4.2 million budget.
Commissioner of the Revenue Robert Wertz has worked for the county for nearly 25 years, including as the Commissioner of the Revenue since 2003. The Republican took over following the retirement Wertz of Kitty Ashby, a Democrat, who held the post from 1985 to 2003. The commissioner of the revenue is the chief tax assessing officer in the county, responsible for assessing real estate, individual and business tangible personal property, machinery and tools, business license, short-term rental, transient occupancy, public service corporation, and bank franchise taxes. The commissioner also provides state income tax assistance and administers the tax relief program for the elderly and disabled. The commissioner’s office has a staff of 67 fulltime equivalent positions and a $6.8 million budget.
Commonwealth’s Attorney James Plowman has served as Loudoun’s C o m m o n wealth’s Attorney since 2003. His office represents the people of Virginia in prosecuting criminal cases, ranging from Plowman the most serious felonies, including murder, rape, and robbery to misdemeanors and violations of local ordinances, including traffic offenses. Plowman oversees a staff of 33 full-time equivalent positions and a $3.5 million budget.
Sheriff Mike Chapman is serving his second term as county sheriff. The office provides all law enforcement services, including investigating crimes, pursuing offenders and making arrests. The sheriff also
Chapman
maintains the local jail, manages other local corrections programs and transports criminal defendants to and from corrections facilities. The office provides courthouse security, serves legal papers, summons jurors and witnesses, and executes court judgments. The office includes 790 full-time equivalent positions and an $87.3 million budget.
Treasurer H. Roger Zurn is the county’s longest serving constitutional officer, first elected to the post in 1996 after representing the Sterling District on the Board of Supervisors. Zurn The treasurer is the chief financial officer for the county, collecting taxes and local fees and making payments on behalf of the local government. The office is responsible for all forms of revenue which come to the locality including taxes, permit fees, and fines. The treasurer also manages the investment of local funds and maintains records of local finances. The office includes 49 full-time equivalent positions and a $5 million budget.
LOUDOUN NOW | Discover Loudoun | SEPTEMBER 2016
[ GOVERNMENT ]
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[ SCHOOLS ]
EDUCATION IN LOUDOUN COUNTY From one-room schoolhouses to magnet academies
LOUDOUN THEN&NOW
Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now
Hillsboro Charter Academy (top) opened in August as the county’s second charter school. It is housed in the same building that served as Hillsboro Elementary School for 50 years.
Waterford Foundation Archives Local History Collection, Courtesy of John Middleton
The one-room Second Street School in Waterford educated black students from 1867 to 1957.
LOUDOUN NOW | Discover Loudoun | SEPTEMBER 2016
A look at Loudoun’s education system over the past 150 years provides an accurate picture of how the county has grown and evolved since its founding. Now, at a time when the local public schools together add more than 2,000 students to their rosters each year, it may be hard to believe that Loudoun was a county resistant to change. The county established its school system in 1870, and for the next 100 years, it educated white and black children in separate schools, and often at different standards. Men and women who attended all-black schools in the ’30s and ’40s recount stories of pulling drinking water from a well while white children across town were taught in schools with running water. A major milestone for Loudoun’s black community came in 1941, when a small four-classroom
school—Douglass School—opened on the outskirts of Leesburg to provide educational opportunities to the county’s black teens. Black families, organized as the County Wide League, raised money to purchase land for the school when the Loudoun School Board refused to do so. They raised $4,000 to purchase the land and then sold it to the school system for $1. The school would serve Loudoun’s black students until court-ordered desegregation in 1968, 14 years after the federal Brown vs. Board of Education ruling. Loudoun was one of the last school systems in the country to agree to educate white and black children together, and equally. The county has undergone more change in the five decades since that decision than the nine previous decades combined. It’s become one of the fastest growing and most diverse school systems in the nation, with the most recent U.S. Census reporting that close to 50 percent of the population is made up of Hispanic, Indian, Asian or black residents. The student body at Park View High School in Sterling alone represents 80 different countries. Through the recent years of rapid growth and major changes, residents have worked to preserve the county’s educational history. One example of that is in the Second Street School in Waterford, which operated as an allblack school from 1867 to 1957 and is now part of Waterford Foundation’s Living History program. The restored one-room schoolhouse opens for tours for public and private school students, who spend a day playing roles of actual pupils who spent their formative years there, as researched from the 1880 U.S. Census. To date, the program has educated 32,000 students. Another example of residents working to protect the county’s past is in Ashburn, where students from the Loudoun School for the Gifted are raising money to restore the one-room Ashburn Colored School, which operated from 1892 to 1959. Students from the private secondary school want to transform the once-abandoned schoolhouse into a museum on the history of education. Deep Sran, founder and academic lead of Loudoun School for the Gifted, said it’s easy for some of the county’s past to just slip away. But holding on to it can help teach today’s students about the experiences that shaped the county and guide them as they shape its future. “This is really an opportunity to restore a piece of Loudoun County’s story,” he said, “and in a broader sense, inform ourselves about the social and political events that made our county what it is today.” In another effort to keep some of the oldest schools in Loudoun from being EDUCATION >> 13
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LOUDOUN COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD Loudoun’s nine-member School Board oversees the county’s 78,700-student school system. Board members are paid a salary of $20,000 per year and the chairman is paid $22,000. They serve four-year terms, and their current terms end Dec. 31, 2019. The board holds regular business meetings at 6:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month at the school administration office, 21000 Education Court in Ashburn. Meetings can be watched live at lcps. org/page/140009. Members of the public can email the full board at lcsp@lcps.org or email individual board members. << FROM 12 shuttered, the communities of Hillsboro and Middleburg have converted their schools to public charter schools. Middleburg Community Charter School, housed in the original Middleburg School that opened in 1911, launched two years ago as the first charter school in Northern Virginia. In August, Hillsboro Charter Academy opened in the same building that served as Hillsboro Elementary School for 50 years. Charter programs are led by a board of parents and educators and offer schools more flexibility in meeting federal and state standards.
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Douglas Graham/LoudounMYNow
Hillsboro Charter Academy
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Now, education in Loudoun is on the brink of yet another turning point. This summer, construction started on the Academies of Loudoun, which will house three magnet programs: expanded versions of the existing Academy of Science and C.S. Monroe Technology Center, as well as a new program, called the Academy of Engineering and Technology. It is designed to serve 2,500 students who attend classes every other day, and is meant to put Loudoun on the map as one of the country’s most cutting-edge school systems. School leaders are sitting down with business leaders to help create the academies’ curriculum to meet the needs of the future workforce. “This is a great day,” Superintendent Eric Williams said at the groundbreaking ceremony in June. “The Academies of Loudoun will bring students together to innovate, to explore, to research and collaborate as they solve real STEM [science, technology, engineering and math] problems. This is the future of education.” CMY
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—Danielle Nadler
Eric Hornberger, Chairman
Ashburn District Email: eric.hornberger@lcps.org Phone: 571-291-5685
Hornb erger joined the board with a variety of local and international experience. He served as the president of the Ashburn Farm Association board of trust- Hornberger ees and as a leader in the citizens advocacy group Ashburn Farm Parents United. He also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in West Africa, prior to working
Eric Hornberger is serving in his second term on the School Board representing the Ashburn District. Since being elected in 2012, he has been repeatedly elected annually to serve as the School Board’s Chairman. He serves on the board’s Legislative and Policy Committee and its Student Support and Services Committee, as well as serves as the Chairman of the Ad hoc Committee on the Academies of Loudoun. He is Loudoun’s representative on the 160923_LTP_print_ad_6-78x9-5_crvs.pdf Washington Area Boards of Education.
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at the Office of Private Sector Relations at Peace Corps’ headquarters in Washington, DC. Hornberger currently works as the executive director of The Mustard Seed Foundation, a private family foundation based in Falls Church. In that role he oversees a variety of international giving programs and was responsible for establishing field offices for the foundation in Singapore, Jakarta, Manila, Mumbai, Hong Kong and Cairo. He and his wife, Paula, have lived in Ashburn since 2004. Paula works as an LCPS teacher. The couple has three children who have or are currently attending local public schools.
LOUDOUN NOW | Discover Loudoun | SEPTEMBER 2016
[ SCHOOLS ]
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[ SCHOOLS ]
LOUDOUN COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD Brenda Sheridan, Vice Chairwoman the Sterling District Residence: Sterling Phone: 571-233-0307 E-mail: brenda.sheridan@lcps.org
In January, Brenda Sheridan was elected vice chairwoman of the board, unseating Jill Turgeon who had served in the role the four previous years. She is chairwoman of the board’s Legislative and Policy Committee and serves on the Charter School Committee, Discipline Committee, and Finance and Facilities Committee. She is also
School Board liaison on the Head Start Policy Council, and is a Virginia School Boards Association delegate. Sheridan is an 18-year resident of Sterling and is in her second Sheridan full term as a School Board member. She served a partial term in 2011 after she was ap-
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pointed to represent the Sterling District after the death of longtime School Board member J. Warren Geurin. She has one child in Loudoun County Public Schools and one attending Christopher Newport University. She currently serves as a board member representative on the National PTA Board of Directors, the president of Park View High School’s PTSA, and is the immediate past president of the Virginia Parent Teacher Association. Previously, she served as the Forest Grove Elementary School’s Parent Teacher Association vice president for three years and president for two years; she also worked as a substitute teacher in Loudoun before she was appointed to the board in 2011.
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Debbie Rose is serving her second term on the School Board. She is the chairwoman of the Discipline Committee and the Student Support and Services Committee. She also Rose serves on the Ad hoc Committee on the Academies of Loudoun and is the board’s liaison to the Special Education Advisory Committee. She works as an intellectual property fellow for the Association for Competitive Technology. She also worked at the Entertainment Software Association and as a counsel on the U.S. House Judiciary Committee and Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property. She previously served as a District Chair of the Loudoun County Republic Committee. Rose grew up in Southern California; she moved to Virginia in 1998 and to Potomac Falls in 2006. She and her husband, Randy, have three children, all of whom attend Loudoun public schools.
Jill Turgeon
Blue Ridge District Phone: 571-420-3818 Email: jill.turgeon@lcps.org
Jill Turgeon taught second grade at Cool Spring Elementary School before she was elected to the School Board in 2011. She owns a photography business and is active in a vari- Turgeon ety of civil and community organizations. She serves as chairwoman of the board’s Curriculum and Instruction Committee and serves on the Charter School Committee, and the Communications and Outreach Committee.
She is also the School Board liaison on the Minority Students Achievement Advisory Committee. Turgeon’s family has spent a lot of time in Loudoun County Public Schools. Her husband, Bill, also teaches in the school system, their oldest daughter graduated from Loudoun Valley High School in 2010, their youngest daughter graduated from Woodgrove High School in 2013 and their son graduated from Woodgrove in 2015.
Joy Maloney
Broad Run District Email: joy.maloney@lcps.org Phone: 571-577-0439
Joy Maloney is in her first term on the board. She unseated first-term board member Kevin Kuesters in her second try for the seat in 2015, after running a write-in camMaloney paign in 2011. She co-chairs the Joint Board of Supervisors/School Board Committee and is a member of the School Board’s Curriculum and Instruction Committee, and the Student Support and Services Committee. She is the board’s liaison on the Technology Steering Committee. A former high school teacher, Maloney holds a master’s degree in educational leadership and a bachelor’s in secondary education mathematics. She’s worked in the information technology field for the past 19 years, holding positions at Marriott and at AOL and currently as a government contractor. She and her husband have lived in Broadlands for 15 years and in the Washington metro area for almost 40 years. In that time, she’s volunteered for the Girl Scouts, Sterling Playmakers, Loudoun Interfaith Relief, Women Giving Back and Big Brothers Big Sisters. She also served as vice president of the Loudoun Education Alliance of Parents, known as LEAP.
Jeff Morse
Dulles District Phone: 571-420-2243 Email: jeff.morse@lcps.org
Jeff Morse is a 14-year resident of South Riding and is in his second term on the School Board. He served on active duty in the U.S. Navy for 20 years, retiring as a commander in 2006. He is a Morse lead associate for Booz Allen Hamilton, managing and procuring technology and services for the federal government. SCHOOL BOARD >> 16
15 LOUDOUN NOW | Discover Loudoun | SEPTEMBER 2016
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[ SCHOOLS ]
LOUDOUN COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD He is chairman of two board committees: the Finance and Facilities Committee, and Charter School Committee. He also serves on the Joint Board of Supervisors/School Board Committee and the Ad hoc Committee on the Academies of Loudoun, and is the board’s liaison for the Loudoun Education Foundation. His wife, Karen, is a kindergarten assistant at Hutchison Farm Elementary. The couple has three children; two attend Loudoun public schools and one attends Virginia Tech.
Eric DeKenipp
Catoctin District Phone: 571-291-5685 Email: eric.dekenipp@lcps.org
Eric DeKenipp is in his first year on the School Board. He was sworn in in January, after Jennifer Bergel resigned following three terms serving the district. DeKenipp He serves on the board’s Finance and Facilities Committee, Personnel Committee and the Joint Board of Supervisors/School Board Committee. He is also the board’s liaison on the School Business Partnership Executive Council.
He is a Marine Corps veteran and currently serves as the Director of Human Resources at government contracting company SOS International. His wife, Elizabeth, is a School Counselor at Briar Woods High School. They live in Leesburg and have two daughters, 10-year-old Ava and 7-yearold Alexa, who attend Evergreen Mill Elementary School.
Beth Huck
At-Large Member Phone: 571-233-9928 E-mail: beth.huck@lcps.org
Beth Huck is serving her first term on the board. She was sworn in in January, following the resignation of Thomas Reed who served as the at
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-large member for four terms. She serves as chairwoman of the board’s Communications and Outreach Committee, and is a member of the Curriculum and Instruction Committee and Huck the Personnel Committee. She is the board’s liaison on the Gifted Advisory Committee and the alternate delegate on the Virginia School Boards Association. Huck currently works as an events manager for Blue Compass LLC. Prior to that she worked as the community lifestyle manager for Brambleton Community Association and, for several years, taught early childhood education. She’s also served as the chairwoman of the Loudoun County Youth Advisory Commission for the past three years. Huck and her husband, Aaron, live in Brambleton and have two children: Caleb, a sophomore at Rock Ridge High School, and Ella, a seventh-grader at Stone Hill Middle School.
Tom Marshall
Leesburg District Email: tom.marshall@lcps.org Phone: 703-727-2318
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Tom Marshall returned to the School Board in January following a four-year hiatus, when he was unseated for one term by Bill Fox. Marshall regained the Leesburg seat in November 2015. Marshall He serves as chairman of the Personnel Committee, and is a member of the Communications and Outreach Committee and Legislative and Policy Committee. He is also the board’s liaison for the Career and Technical Education Foundation. He has worked as a Realtor in Virginia since 1998 and currently works for McEnearney Associates Realtors. He has previously served as a teacher, guidance counselor and guidance director, as well as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines. Marshall was born in Washington, DC, was raised in Alexandria, and has lived in Leesburg for the past 25 years. He and his wife, Barbi, have a 24-year-old daughter and 20-year-old son, both of whom attended Loudoun public schools.
Loudoun Schools at a Glance • Virginia’s third largest school system • 89 public schools • 78,700 students • 10,000-plus employees • Annual budget of $1.06 billion
17 LOUDOUN NOW | Discover Loudoun | SEPTEMBER 2016
[ THE TOWNS ]
LOUDOUN THEN&NOW
LEESBURG Established in 1758, Leesburg is the seat of government for Loudoun County. The town’s roots date back to the early 18th century after the 1722 Treaty of Albany pushed the Iroquois west of the Blue Ridge and colonists populated the region. In 1730, Thomas, the 6th Earl of Fairfax, granted 4,054 acres, including what would become Leesburg, to Francis Awbrey. It was a small community, but its location at the crossroads of the major north-south Carolina Road (today’s Rt. 15) and the east-west Potomac Ridge Road (today’s Rt. 7) assured its
importance. In 1757, the Assembly of Virginia selected this settlement for the location of the Loudoun County courthouse. The land was then owned by Nicholas Minor, who hired John Hough to survey and plat his 60 acres into 70 lots to form a town, which he called George Town. The name was changed to Leesburg the following year. The Town of Leesburg was incorporated by the General Assembly on Feb. 18, 1813. By 1850, Leesburg had grown to 1,688 residents. It was a border town during the Civil War, and control of the town changed
Courtesy of Stanley Caulkins, Thomas Balch Library
An early 20th century view of South King Street looking north contrasts with a similar view today. In 1963, the town established the Old and Historic District that imposed architectural controls designed to preserve the downtown streetscapes.
LEESBURG BY THE NUMBERS 12.5
SQUARE MILES
51,201 POPULATION
$101,719
MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME
$377,100
MEDIAN HOUSING VALUE
BY RACE
71.1% WHITE 17.4% HISPANIC/LATINO 9.5% BLACK 7.1% ASIAN James Goode Photograph Collection, Thomas Balch Library
The original map of Leesburg as laid out by Nicholas Minor in 1759.
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MEDIAN AGE
hands—from Confederate to Union and back again—some 150 times during the course of the war. In addition to the Battle of Balls Bluff in October 1861, there were frequent raids and skirmishes in and around Leesburg during the war. Leesburg recovered more quickly than other communities after the war, bolstered by its proximity markets in Georgetown and Baltimore, its status as Loudoun’s economic hub, and its rail connections. Like Loudoun County, the town experienced significant growth during the past three decades. A major annexation in the 1980s expanded the town’s boundaries to incorporate more than 12 square miles. In 1980, the town’s population was 8,350; today it is 51,200—the largest town in Virginia. —Kara C. Rodriguez
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[ THE TOWNS ]
LEESBURG GOVERNMENT The Town of Leesburg operates under the council-manager form of government, which divides responsibilities between an elected mayor and Town Council and an appointed town manager. The council determines town policy, adopts all ordinances and resolutions, sets the annual tax rates and adopts an annual budget based on a staff-prepared draft. The town manager is responsible for the day-to-day management of town affairs, implanting the Town Council’s policies, and hiring a staff to assist in that work.
Town Council The Leesburg Town Council has seven members. The mayor serves a two-year term, while all other council members are elected for four-year terms. Council member terms are staggered, with three seats filled each election cycle. Elections occur in November of even-numbered years, with the next election set for this November. Council members are paid an annual stipend of $15,600. The mayor is paid $16,200 per year.
David Butler, Mayor Email: dbutler@leesburgva.gov
LOUDOUN NOW | Discover Loudoun | SEPTEMBER 2016
David Butler was appointed mayor in February, following former mayor Kristen Umstattd’s election to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors. Butler was first elected to the
Town Council in 2008, and re-elected four years later. His mayoral term ends this year, and he is running for election for his first twoyear term. Prior to his election to Town Council in Butler 2008, Butler was a member of the Leesburg Planning Commission, the Utility Rate Advisory Committee, and the Standing Residential Traffic Committee. He also chaired the SE/SW Trails Committee during the summer and fall of 2006. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Clarkson University and a master’s degree in manufacturing engineering from Syracuse University. He serves on, or is council’s liaison to, the Tree Commission, the Northern Virginia Regional Commission, and Virginia Municipal League’s Environmental Quality Committee. He previously served as council liaison to the Leesburg Technology and Communication Commission. Butler is a native of Oswego, NY. He and his family, which includes wife Pamela and two sons, have been Leesburg residents since 2002. He is the chief security officer for National Electronics Warranty in Sterling.
Kelly Burk, Vice Mayor
Email: kburk@leesburgva.gov
Kelly Burk was first elected to the Town Council in 2004. Three years into her term, she was elected as the Leesburg District repres ent at ive to the Loudoun County Board of Burk Supervisors. She served on the county board from 2008 to 2011, and during that time chaired the Transportation and Land Use Committee. She was re-elected to the Town Council in an April 2012 special election. She was re-elected to a new four-year term in 2014. Her current council term ends Dec. 31, 2018, but she is running for mayor on November’s ballot. She serves on, or is the council’s liaison to, the Economic Development Commission, the Environmental Advisory Commission, the Standing Residential Traffic Committee, the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority Advisory Committee, the Virginia Municipal League’s Transportation Committee, and VML’s Human Development and Education Committee. A Leesburg resident since 1979, Burk was a special education teacher with
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Loudoun County Public Schools until her retirement in 2014. She holds a bachelor’s degree in education from George Washington University and a master’s degree in middle school curriculum and instruction from Virginia Tech. She is a past president of the Loudoun Education Association and served on the Board of Directors of the Virginia Education Association from 1994 to 2000. In 2001, the Loudoun Commission on Women honored her as the Woman of the Year for Education and Training.
Fernando “Marty” Martinez
Email: mmartinez@leesburgva.gov
Fernando “Marty” Martinez was elected to his first term on Town Council in May 2002 and served as vice mayor from July 2004 to June 2006. His current term expires Dec. 31, 2018. He currently serves on, or is Martinez council’s liaison to, the Commission on Public Art; the Parks and Recreation Commission; the Thomas Balch Library Advisory LEESBURG GOVERNMENT >> 22
21 LOUDOUN NOW | Discover Loudoun | SEPTEMBER 2016
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[ THE TOWNS ] << FROM 20 Commission; and Virginia Municipal League’s General Laws Committee. Martinez previously served as council’s liaison to the Economic Development Commission, the former Leesburg Information Technology Commission, and the former Leesburg Cable Television Advisory Commission. Before his election to council, he served on the Loudoun County Parks and Recreation Commission, as well as the Loudoun County Community Services Advisory Board. Originally from California, Martinez is a U.S. Air Force veteran. He earned his bachelor’s degrees in economics and computer science from Portland State University. He has lived in Leesburg with his wife, Doris, and children since 1993. He works as a consultant for the Federal Aviation Administration and employed by SAIC. He founded Heritage High School Project Grad, and helped to co-found the Boys and Girls Club of Loudoun County and La Voz, a Hispanic advocacy group. He serves on the board of directors for the Paxton Campus, which is a full service organization for children with special needs. He has also been appointed by the governor to serve on the Aerospace Advisory Council.
Katie Sheldon Hammler
Email: khammler@leesburgva.gov
LOUDOUN NOW | Discover Loudoun | SEPTEMBER 2016
Katie Sheldon Hammler is serving her third four-year term on the Town Council, having been first elected in
2004. She served as vice mayor from 2008 to June 2010. She is currently running for re-election for a fourth council term. She serves on, or is council’s liaison to, the Technology Hammler and Communications Commission, the Loudoun County Economic Development Advisory Committee, Loudoun County’s Night Time Economy Committee, the Annexation Area Development Policy Committee, the Joint Task Force on Potential Efficiencies and Savings—Police/Sheriff Operations, Virginia Municipal League’s Community and Economic Development Committee, and an alternate to the Northern Virginia Regional Commission. Hammler is a past council liaison to the former Leesburg Cable Television Advisory Commission, the Thomas Balch Library Advisory Commission and the Parks and Recreation Commission. She also served on the Leesburg Economic Development Commission for four years prior to her election to council. In October 2015, Hammler was elected vice president of VML. A former captain in the U.S. Army Reserves, she earned her bachelor’s degree in international relations from Brown University, and an MBA in information systems management from The George Washington
University where she graduated Beta Gamma Sigma. She is also a 2004 graduate of the Virginia Certified Planning Commissioner’s Program. She has more than 25 years’ hightech experience at firms such as VeriSign, Interliant and Alcatel Data Networks and works as the Xacta product manager for Telos’ Cybersecurity and Information Assurance practice area. She was also the founder and president of KSH Technology Solutions LLC. She is a member of Morven Park’s President’s Council and an advisor to its Center for Civic Impact. She has also served on the boards of the Loudoun Free Clinic, the Loudoun Convention and Visitors Association and the Loudoun Abused Women’s Shelter. She and her husband, Rich, also an Army veteran, have been residents of Leesburg for 21 years. They have two children.
Thomas S. Dunn, II
Email: tdunn@leesburgva.gov
Tom Dunn was first elected to Town Council on 2008, and elected to a new four-year term in 2012. He is currently running for re-election for a third council term. He serves on, or is council’s li-
Dunn
aison, to the Annexation Area Development Policy Committee, the Dulles Area Transportation Association, the Joint Task Force on Potential Efficiencies and Savings—Police/Sheriff Operations, and Virginia Municipal League’s Finance Committee. Prior to being elected to the Town Council, Dunn served on the Leesburg Planning Commission and the Leesburg Economic Development Commission. He previously served as the council liaison to the Thomas Balch Library Commission and the Board of Architectural Review. He was the Leesburg District representative to the Loudoun County Planning Commission from 2011 to 2015. He holds a bachelor’s degree in social studies from Mary Washington College. Dunn is a Certified Planning Commissioner and has 16 years’ experience in mortgage banking. He formerly served with the U.S. Army Combat Engineers for eight years and is currently the president of VCR Inc., a marketing company he founded. Dunn has been and continues to be an active community volunteer, having held various volunteer positions with the Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Little League, Youth Football, Balls Bluff PTO and Loudoun County School of Ballet. He directed youth summer camps at Morven Park, Oatlands and the Loudoun Museum and is a volunteer tour guide at Balls Bluff Battlefield. He is a member of the Leesburg Downtown BusiBOARD OF SUPERVISORS >> 23
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<< FROM 22 ness Association and the Christian Fellowship Church.
Suzanne Fox
Email: sfox@leesburgva.gov
Suzanne Fox was elected to the Town Council in 2014. She is the council’s representative to the Airport Commission, and the Board of Architectural Review. Fox also serves on Fox Loudoun County’s Court House Grounds and Facilities Committee. She holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from Brigham Young University. She is the owner of Legacy Weddings, a wedding planning/coordinating business, and is a civil celebrant. In addition, she and her husband, Bill, own and operate Weddings on Wirt Street, a small wedding venue in downtown Leesburg. She and her family moved to Leesburg in 2003.
R. “Bruce” Gemmill
Email: bgemmill@leesburgva.gov
Bruce Gemmill was appointed to the Town Council in February. His council term expires at the end of this year,
and he is not running to be elected to a new council term. Prior to his appointment to the Town Council, Gemmill served as the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors’ Gemmill representative to the Leesburg Airport Commission, on the Leesburg Commission for the Public Arts, and on the Leesburg Economic Development Commission’s Performing Arts Center Task Force. He serves on the boards of Visit Loudoun and the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce and is a past board member for the Fairfax County and Dulles Regional chambers of commerce. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Old Dominion University and holds a graduate certificate in Public Relations from the Kogod School of Business at American University. Gemmill has more than 35 years of sales, marketing, public relations and business development experience. He is currently the senior vice president/chief marketing officer for John Marshall Bank. Previously, he was the owner of Campbell Communications, an advertising and public relations agency. A Washington, DC, native, Gemmill and his family have lived in Leesburg since 2005.
Town of Leesburg Staff Town Manager: Kaj Dentler Deputy Town Manager: Keith Markel Assistant to the Town Manager: Scott Parker Public Information Officer: Betsy Arnett Town Attorney: Barbara Notar Police Chief: Gregory Brown Leesburg Executive Airport Manager: Scott Coffman Director of Public Works and Capital Projects: Renee LaFollette Economic Development Manager: Marantha Edwards Director of Finance & Administrative Services: Clark Case Human Resources Manager: Mark Hauer Director of Parks & Recreation: Rich Williams Director of Plan Review: Bill Ackman Director of Planning and Zoning: Susan Berry-Hill Thomas Balch Library Director: Alexandra Gressitt Director of Utilities: Amy Wyks
Courtesy of Bob Sharp
This former West Loudoun Street residence once served as Leesburg’s Town Hall. The modern government complex was built in 1990.
Sponsorship Opportunities Veterans Day 2016 Commemoration Join the George C. Marshall International Center and our distinguished sponsors in saluting our military men and women with a Veterans Day Commemoration sponsorship. Veterans Day Commemoration Friday, November 11th, 2016 at 10:15 a.m. The Marshall House 217 Edward’s Ferry Road Leesburg, Virginia
Sponsorships Available
Gold: $5,000 Silver: $2,500 Bronze: $1,000 For sponsorship details contact Janet van der Vaart jvandervaart@georgecmarshall.org | 703.777.1301 www.GeorgeCMarshall.org 87% of proceeds from contributions to the GCMIC support our education programs and help us preserve The Marshall House.
Net proceeds will provide scholarships for military dependents to participate in the GCMIC’s international student exchange programs.
LOUDOUN NOW | Discover Loudoun | SEPTEMBER 2016
[ THE TOWNS ]
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[ THE TOWNS ]
PURCELLVILLE After the Civil War, Purcellville began its rise to prominence as the agricultural hub of western Loudoun, taking over that spot formerly held by Waterford. It is still the agricultural and trade center of that portion of the county. The town’s first known settler was James Dillon, who arrived in 1764. His name is commemorated in the town-owned Dillon Woods at Fireman’s Field. Ordinaries were established, followed by a store and post office opened by Valentine Vernon Purcell, whose name was chosen in 1853 to be the town’s official name. A turnpike linked Purcellville to Alexandria in the east and Winchester in the west. But the most significant factor in its post-war growth was the arrival of rail service that began prior to the war, and was extended westward in 1874. The growing settlement was incor-
LOUDOUN THEN&NOW Norman K. Styer/Loudoun Now
Chances are you’ve been to a Christmas or Independence Day parade in Purcellville. They’re a long-standing community tradition. These photos contrast a 1912 School Fair parade with the Christmas 2015 parade, following the same route.
Caylor-Howser Post Card Collection, Thomas Balch Library
LOUDOUN NOW | Discover Loudoun | SEPTEMBER 2016
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porated in 1908, and town leaders, all prominent businessmen, had definite ideas of what they wanted—and did not want—in their community. A peek into the early Town Council minutes gives an interesting glimpse into that early 20th century mindset. The town was hit by some disastrous fires between 1900 and 1914, destroying most of the wooden structures in the downtown business district on 21st Street. Nichols Hardware, the town’s best known store, was rebuilt and celebrated its centennial two years ago. In the first part of the 20th century, the town was considered the orchard grass capital of the U.S., providing important packing materials for ammunition being sent to Europe during World War II. In the latter part of the 20th century, the town saw big changes. The railroad ceased running in the late 1960s. Agriculture ceased to be the main plank in its economy as more and more residents left the farms for employment elsewhere. But the town experienced a huge spurt of population growth in the early 2000s, tapering off over the past few years. Over the past decade, the town sought and established new water sources for the town and enlarged its sewer treatment capacity. North 21st Street began to see a revival of downtown stores and the town government acquired the Bush Tabernacle and Fireman’s Field, and the former Train Station—all now placed under protective easements. Town leaders also established a new government center in the former Purcellville Baptist Church. And, in a return to its standing as the agricultural hub of western Loudoun, Purcellville now is at the center of thriving winery and craft brewery enterprises. —Margaret Morton
Purcellville at a Glance • • • • •
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Population: 9,132 Households: 2,831 Median Age: 34 Mayor: Kwasi A. Fraser Council: Vice Mayor Karen Jimmerson, Chris Bledsoe, Ryan Cool, Kelli Grim, Doug McCollum, Nedim Ogelman Council meetings: 7 p.m. second and fourth Tuesdays at Town Hall, 221 S. Nursery Ave. Stipend: mayor $7,025 per annum; council members $6,050 per annum Town manager: Robert L. Lohr Jr. Find information on town taxes, fees and utility rates at purcellvilleva.gov
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LOVETTSVILLE Independence of thought has always been a feature of the Lovettsville area. Of all the western Loudoun towns, Lovettsville is the one that most strongly emphasizes its original descendants—a group of 60 German families of the Reformed Church fleeing strife in their Palatine homeland who had emigrated to England’s American colonies. They first went to Pennsylvania. Then, in the early 1730s, pushed farther south into what became northern Loudoun County when it achieved
Lovettsville at a Glance • • • • •
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Population: 1,934 Households: 574 Median age: 32 Mayor: Robert Zoldos II Council: Vice Mayor Tiffaney Carder, Kimberly Allar, Robert Gentile, Jennifer Jones, Kim McIntyre, Mike Senate Council meetings: 7:3010:30 p.m. second and fourth Thursdays at 6 E. Pennsylvania Ave. Stipend: Mayor $8,000 per year; council members $2,000 per year Town Manager: Laszlo Palko For more information and details of town taxes, fees and utility rates go to lovettsvilleva.gov.
county status in 1757. Their numbers swelled about 30 years later when a group of German Lutherans arrived, establishing the predecessor of the present-day New Jerusalem Lutheran Church. Led by Elder William Wenner, the German farming families soon established a prosperous “German Settlement.” The names of some of those original settlers continue to be reflected in various place names around the town. To this day, Lovettsville celebrates Alicia Bruce/Love Knot Photography that heritage, most noLovettsville pays homage to the tably with its annual town’s German roots with its Oktoberfest event— annual Oktoberfest. that celebrates German food, music, beer divisions have sprung and dance. over the past two decades, The town took the attracting many young name of Lovettsville, families drawn by its rural named after David location, the scenic views, Lovett, a descendant and the proximity of the of one of the original MARC train just across the families, who sold Potomac River in Brunsquarter-acre lots that wick, MD. started a building The town has active stewboom in the 1820s. ards of its heritage—the During the CivLovettsville Historical Sociil War, Lovettsville ety, which puts on a well-reand the neighboring Thomas Balch Library searched lecture series on all Quaker community The Lovettsville High School in 1911, situated near the present Lovettsville aspects of the area’s history of Waterford, were Community Center. each year. And the town constrongly pro-Union— an unpopular stance in Confederate C. Means, and the only Union cavalry tinues to stress its heritage—erecting a Loudoun. Men of the two communi- unit to be formed in what is now Vir- clock tower, “Glockenspiel,” feature on the southern end of the newly comties formed the Loudoun Rangers, an ginia. Today, Lovettsville has experienced pleted Town Square Retail building. independent cavalry unit under the — Margaret Morton command of Waterford miller Samuel a building boom, as a number of sub-
LOUDOUN THEN&NOW
MIDDLEBURG As its name suggests, Middleburg was a half-way, “middle-town” location on the Ashby Gap trade route (Rt. 50) between Alexandria and Winchester. Founded in trade, it remains that way today—even though the numerous mills that surrounded it up to
Middleburg at a Glance
the Civil War are gone, and the former thriving agricultural trade has given way to high-end boutiques, retail stores and many restaurants and cafés. The town was laid out by American Revolutionary War Lt. Col. Leven Powell, who purchased land in 1763 from George Washington’s cousin, Joseph Chinn. Winslow Williams Photographic Collection, Thomas Balch Library
Middleburg’s main shopping thoroughfare, Washington Street, in Middleburg in 1948.
LOUDOUN THEN&NOW
Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now
Tainer Eva Smithwick with jockey Woods Winant puts one of her steeplechasers through its paces before this year’s Oatlands Point-to-Point races at her Sunny Bank Farm.
As in so many Loudoun towns—most of which were located west of the Carolina Road/Rt. 15 corridor—Middleburg suffered from the ravages of the Civil War. The horse has not always been king in Middleburg. It was not until the early decades of the 1900s that the town began to recover from the Civil War, establishing horses as the dominant aspects of its future history. Wealthy New York foxhunters, steeplechasers and sportsmen looking for land on which to pursue their favorite sports came south. Soon, northern visitors began buying large tracts of land around Middleburg. In support of those new owners and their pursuits, businesses grew up to support the area’s growing equine industry. That tradition is continued in the National Sporting Library and Museum, whose research center for equine and field sport is considered one of the finest collections in the country. The town is a sturdy commercial center—its former predominantly rural trading outlets having given way to specialty shops that support the surrounding area and draw numerous visitors. Its many restaurants include the Red Fox Inn, originally established in 1728 as Chinn’s Ordinary. Today, it is cited as the oldest continually operated inn in the country. Middleburg is also the center of an area filled with horse training, breeding, jumping and racing facilities that draw numerous visitors,
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Population: 807 Households: 350 Median age: 47 Mayor: Betsy A. Davis Council: Vice Mayor C. Darlene Kirk, J. Kevin Daly, Kevin Hazard, Trowbridge Littleton, Philip M. Miller, Mark T. Snyder, Kathy Jo Shea* Council meetings: 6 p.m. second Thursday of each month, work session on fourth Thursday at Town Office, 10 W. Marshall St. Stipends: Mayor $500/ month; council members $200/month Town administrator: Martha Semmes Find information on town taxes, fees and utility rates at middleburgva.gov.
*Note: Shea will resign on Oct. 15. A special election will be held Nov. 8 to fill the remainder of her term.
as well as being at the heart of the heritage education nonprofit, the Mosby Heritage Area Association. New attractions for visitors include the Salamander Resort & Spa and the Middleburg Film Festival. —Margaret Morton
LOUDOUN NOW | Discover Loudoun | SEPTEMBER 2016
[ THE TOWNS ]
[ THE TOWNS ] Before fire: Carriages outside the Laycock & Shoemaker General Merchandise store. In 1926, a fire that started in the store destroyed many of the downtown businesses.
After fire: The day of the 1926 fire, looking east along Colonial Highway across the ruined structures toward Samuel Rogers’ house that still stands today.
LOUDOUN THEN&NOW
Charles Preston
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Danielle Nadler/Loudoun Now
Baseball players wave at a drone hovering overhead during the annual Hamilton Day Parade June 4.
HAMILTON
LOUDOUN NOW | Discover Loudoun | SEPTEMBER 2016
Hamilton is the second smallest town in Loudoun County. Its history dates to the native American Indian era, before European settlers moved in in the 1730s. The settlement was first known as Harmony. The town changed its name to Hamilton Store, after store owner Charles Bennett Hamilton—later simplified to Hamilton when a post office was established in his building. A road built in the early 1830s connecting Leesburg and Snickersville (today’s Bluemont) resulted in growth. Hamilton came into its own after the Civil War, with the advent of the railroad from Alexandria in 1868, along the future route of the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad. The railroad, later extended to Purcellville, Round Hill and Bluemont, brought tourists seeking relief from the summer heat and humidity in Washington, DC, and Baltimore, MD.
Hamilton at a Glance • • • • •
Population: 609 Households: 221 Median age; 43 Mayor: David R. Simpson Council: Vice Mayor Kenneth C. Wine, Mathew L. Clark, Craig Green, Dimitri Kesari, Michael E. Snyder, John D. Unger • Council meetings: 7 p.m. second Monday of each month • Stipend: mayor $15,000 per year; council members $1,200 per year. • Town Manager: None For more information and details of town taxes, fees and utility rates go to town.hamilton.va.us.
That influx brought prosperity to those towns, as visitors flocked to the hotels, boarding houses and stores that sprang up to accommodate them. Hamilton prospered. In contrast to today’s relatively small commercial life, the town had a dance hall, two newspapers, a butcher’s shop, men’s clothing store, a broom factory, a hat shop, a dentist, two hardware stores, livery stable—even a flat racecourse— and a one-and-a-half-mile boardwalk throughout the town. But a fire that broke out at about 5 a.m. on March 22, 1926, devastated the commercial center of town and much of the boardwalk. The rebuilt commercial area along Colonial Highway today contains the town office and several stores. One account has it that the fire was started by a candle held by robbers in George Laycock’s clothing store. Despite the efforts of the only fire companies in Loudoun—Leesburg and Purcellville—six businesses and four homes were destroyed. For many years, Hamilton children attended elementary school in what is now Loudoun Valley Community Center in Purcellville, and high school in Lincoln, the current elementary school. Longtime resident Charles Preston recalls his father “firing up his Model T truck” to take kids to school—as there was no county bus system then—and even hitching up a horse team with a sleigh behind to get them to school in bad weather. The fire and the arrival of automobiles caused a sharp drop off in the summer tourism trade. Today, Hamilton is a pleasant, relaxed residential community, with a small town park popular with young families. Town leaders intend to repair and construct sidewalks in town for more connectivity. —Margaret Morton
27 LOUDOUN NOW | Discover Loudoun | SEPTEMBER 2016
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[ THE TOWNS ]
ROUND HILL LOUDOUN THEN&NOW
Thomas Balch Library Photographic Collection
This 1930 photo shows Woodgrove Road entering Round Hill from the north. The road is paved today, but not much wider.
Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now
The challenging but picturesque Stoneleigh Golf Course just west of Round Hill has been named “the prettiest golf course in Northern Virginia” by Golf Magazine.
Settlers began arriving in what would become the Round Hill area in the 1730s. But the town as such would not exist until surprisingly late—1858, shortly before the opening salvoes of the Civil War. It got its name from a 910-foot knob west of town, named Round Top.
At that time, Woodgrove to the north was the area’s main community. In the 1830s, when the Leesburg and Snicker’s Gap Turnpikes were built, things began to change. In March 1858, the U.S. Postal Department opened its Round Hill post office and storeowner Guilford C. Gregg was appointed the
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first postmaster. As it did for Hamilton and Purcellville, the arrival of the railroad in 1875 gave a boost to Round Hill, bringing many tourists from the steamy Washington, DC metropolitan area to the cool of the hillside town, enjoying the hospitality of its many boarding houses. By 1900, when the Southern Railroad took over the line, Round Hill hit its stride, incorporating that same year. As with Purcellville, the town’s main concerns were its streets, finances and public sanitation—the latter incurring strong displeasure against pig pens, overflowing privies, manure piles and public drunkenness—in large measure to not offend or harm the lucrative summer tourist trade. For today’s motorists, it may be mind-boggling to see that in 1915, the Town Council mandated that the speed limit should be a racy 12 miles per hour. Round Hill is best known for two highly successful ventures just west of town—first, Hill High Orchards, where the Slater family grew apples and peaches on the rocky ridge overlooking Rt. 7 and sold the succulent fruit and resulting pies at its country
store, known to everyone by the old covered wagon by the side of road. The second, and equally successful venture, is Stoneleigh Golf Course, named “the prettiest golf course in Northern Virginia” by Golf Magazine, set on an estate featuring old barns and stone buildings once owned by U.S. Ambassador to Germany William E. Dodd. The residential community surrounding the course was developed on the hillside land by Bob Lewis and his partner Bruce Brownell in the early 1990s. —Margaret Morton
Round Hill at a Glance • • • • •
• • • •
Population: 661 Households: 242 Median age: 38 Mayor: Scott Ramsey Council: Vice Mayor Mary Anne Graham, Kimberly Fortunato, Janet Heston, Frederick Lyme, Michael Minshall, Christopher Prack Council meetings: 7:30 p.m. first and third Thursdays at Town Office, 23 Main St. Stipend: None Town Manager: Buster Nicholson Find more information, including town taxes, fees and utility rates, at roundhillva.org
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HILLSBORO Boasting a pristine assemblage of 18th and 19th century stone architecture, the Quaker settlement of Hillsboro is one of the smallest towns in Virginia. Initially known as “The Gap,” it had its recorded beginning in 1746, although settlers had arrived earlier. It is nestled between two hills on the busy turnpike (today’s Rt. 9) between Alexandria to the Shenandoah Valley. In pre-Civil War times, the road helped fuel the town’s economic prosperity; today the town’s Main Street is filled with commuters to the Northern Vir-
Hillsboro at a Glance • • • • •
• •
• •
Population: 90 Households: 32 Median age: 52 Mayor: Roger Vance Council: Vice Mayor Belle Ware, John Dean, Bill Johnston, Amy Marasco, Steve Walczak Stipend: $0 Council meetings: 7 p.m., third Tuesday of each month at Town Hall, 36966 Charles Town Pike, Hillsboro Town Manager: None Find more information at hillsborovirginia.org.
LOUDOUN THEN&NOW
Hugh Grubb Jr. Photography Collection, Thomas Balch Library
This 1962 photo of Hillsboro’s downtown shows little has changed in town, although the volume of traffic rumbling through on Rt. 9 has certainly grown.
ginia job market. Once a flourishing mill town, Hillsboro experienced an economic decline during and after the Civil War, especially during The Burning Raid of November 1864 that destroyed numerous farms and buildings in Loudoun Valley. Union Gen. Philip Sheridan led the campaign to eradicate Confederate partisan leader, Col. John Singleton Mosby and stamp out his means of support. The town also suffered from the building of the railroad along Rt. 7 farther to the south, bypassing Hillsboro. In 1945, current Hillsboro Vice Mayor Belle Ware moved as a child of 9 to Hillsboro with her family. Back then, many houses had in-home businesses. She attended the Hillsboro grade school (today’s Old Stone School), then went to Lovettsville for high school. Loudoun schools remained racially segregated until the late 1960s and the town’s few black students went to Carver School in Purcellville and then to Douglass High School in Leesburg. Rt. 9 traffic was already bad back
Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now
Today, Hillsboro is the center of a thriving rural industry, surrounded by bed and breakfast inns, wineries and breweries.
in the ’50s, with cars lined up for the Charles Town Races from 5 p.m. to midnight. Then, “you had to wait to cross the street,” Ware recalled. She remembers when the town acquired the Hill Tom spring for its water supply. Water was brought into town by a wooden pipe installed by the Roberts family, then owners of the Hill Tom store, which still serves as the town’s commercial anchor. Today, Hillsboro is the center of a thriving rural industry, surrounded by bed and breakfast inns, wineries and breweries. Despite its small size, Hillsboro is pushing a major expansion
of its boundaries and an ambitious traffic-calming project, as well as installation of a modern utility system in place of the spring and private wells and septic. Ware is carrying on a family tradition started by her mother Evelynn Turbeville Ware, who was one of the first woman mayors in Virginia. Her father also served as the town’s mayor. The town holds its elections in November of odd-numbered years, and, following a long tradition, selects its council members and mayor entirely by write-in ballot. —Margaret Morton
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LOUDOUN NOW | Discover Loudoun | SEPTEMBER 2016
[ THE TOWNS ]
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LOUDOUN HOSPITAL’S CENTURY OF SERVICE The first purpose-built hospital in the county, Loudoun Hospital, opened its doors in 1918. The building was razed in 2013 as part of an expansion of the Leesburg hospital.
In the early years of the 20th century, three determined men—Dr. William C. Orr, Dr. John A. Gibson and Leesburg pharmacist Horace Littlejohn—made good on their determination Ladies Board Collection, Thomas Balch Library to bring hospital facilities to president, while LittleLoudoun. Convinced that babies being born john served as treasurat home, and minor surgeries taking er—a volunteer position place in homes or doctors’ offices were he would hold for 37 years. medically unsatisfactory—while paFrom the start, the founders tients needing major surgeries had to knew they needed the support of wombe transported to Washington, DC—the en, and Gibson went to clergyman’s men were bolstered by the accounts of daughter Alice Davis, and told her, P. Howell Lightfoot, expert in hospital “Unless you women will go along, we’ll management, who told them of small not attempt it.” Those fighting words hospitals being built around the country. worked. Davis galvanized the women After many planning sessions in Lit- and, two weeks later, the Ladies Auxiltlejohn’s back room at his pharmacy on iary Board formed, with Mrs. William King Street in Leesburg, the trio took Corcoran Eustis serving as president. the plunge. With $100 in the bank and Davis was vice president. The Ladies pledges of $2,000, they rented space Board quickly took over supervision of on West Market Street and opened the housekeeping and fundraising—immeLeesburg Hospital on June 5, 1912. diately holding a Donation Day, urgThe first patient was a jockey who’d ing everyone to donate whatever they broken his leg after being thrown from could toward patients’ comfort—money, his horse. Orr became the hospital’s first sheets, towels, groceries, eggs and vege-
LOUDOUN NOW | Discover Loudoun | SEPTEMBER 2016
LOUDOUN THEN&NOW Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now
The 1997 Inova Loudoun Hospital at Lansdowne. Hospital authorities are planning a major expansion that includes a trauma center.
tables, even a pound of tea. It took no time at all for the hospital board to move to its aim of building the first purpose-built hospital in Loudoun—which they opened as the Loudoun Hospital in 1918 on land along Cornwall Street. The hospital had 26 beds, six private rooms, four wards, an operating room, a chemical laboratory and an X-ray machine. That was the beginning and the hospital underwent several expansions—in 1960 with the Arthur Godfrey Wing, and a new wing in 1974. The first longterm care unit opened in 1974 and was expanded in 1981.
As the county developed, there were more patients in eastern Loudoun and many doctors pressed for a new location farther east. After a divisive debate, the hospital ceased major operations, apart from emergency care, in the Leesburg facility and opened a new hospital at Lansdowne in 1997. In 2005, the hospital merged with the Inova Health System. The hospital opened an urgent care center in Purcellville in 2009, carried out a multi-million-dollar overhaul of the Cornwall hospital campus in 2013 and opened a LOUDOUN'S HOSPITALS>> 34
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LOUDOUN NOW | Discover Loudoun | SEPTEMBER 2016
LOUDOUN
During THEN&NOW the late 19th and first half of the 20th century, the rail line fueled economic growth in Loudoun, and communities including Farmwell, Leesburg, Hamilton, Purcellville, Round Hill and Bluemont prospered along the tracks. The trains stopped running 50 years ago, but that will change in 2020 when the Silver Line operations extend to Ashburn. County leaders expect communities along the new rails to prosper as well.
LOUDOUN NOW | Discover Loudoun | SEPTEMBER 2016
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33 LOUDOUN NOW | Discover Loudoun | SEPTEMBER 2016
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<< FROM 30 comprehensive emergency facility at the Inova HealthPlex in Ashburn last year. It has strengthened its professional care, services and sophistication of technical care and equipment and is embarking on a master plan for expansion, including applying to become a level 3 trauma center. Loudoun’s hospital scene is growing fast, as Inova is now joined by the new Hospital Corporation of America’s 124bed, state-of-the-art acute care medical and surgical StoneSprings Hospital on Stone Springs Boulevard along Rt. 50. The hospital will mark its first anniversary of operation in November.
The Medical View Dr. John H. Cook III, of Loudoun Internal Medicine, has long experience of medicine in Loudoun County as one of its most senior practitioners. Looking back over the past 50 years, Cook noted the advent of antibiotics has made a huge difference in treatment of a
number of diseases. “Seventy years or more ago we only had two antibiotics,” indicating the inability to treat everything from gonorrhea to syphilis to tuberculosis, he said. By 1960, the antibiotics revolution largely had put an end to TB, put tonsillitis out of business, as well as those sexually transmitted diseases. “So the biggest difference between 1960 and now is that people don’t die of heart attacks any more. Between the technology of heart disease [treatment] and antibiotics, that’s made a huge difference,” Cook said. The disease of today, he said, is dementia, which he attributed to people living longer. Cook noted that when the need to expand the hospital was discussed in 1960 the growth projections said “we’d need a 500-bed hospital by 1985.” Because of advances in outpatient surgery and care, when plans were made to build the hospital in Lansdowne, “we could only qualify for a 140-bed hospital” even though the population had grown exceptionally.
Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now
StoneSprings Hospital opened last year just off Rt. 50 in Dulles. The 124-bed acute care medical and surgical hospital will mark its first anniversary in November.
The Public Health Perspective The Loudoun County Public Health Department is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. Public health Director Dr. David Goodfriend agrees with Cook.
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“Back in 1941, there were no vaccines, and a lot of diseases are vaccine-preventable, such as TB and measles, which are now cured by antibiotics, although “We do spend a lot of time preventing TB” he said. Some things remain consistent like the common cold, flu, pneumonia, ear and skin infections. The department focuses heavily on sanitation. “That’s a big issue. We have to make sure people don’t get sick from drinking water or bathing, or from a restaurant where the food preparation is not safe,” Goodfriend said. The department also inspects well and septic for the same reason. Throughout the 1960s, health care services improved, including regular vaccinations, maternity care for healthy babies, treatment of sexually transmitted disease, Goodfriend said. He noted that the big government programs—Medicare and Medicaid—started to provide basic services for the most vulnerable, although not all states signed up for Medicaid at the same time. But that care extended to pregnant women and their children saves money in the long run, Goodfriend said, because it makes them healthier and better able to do well in school. Special education instruction was also a big step forward. He notes the huge changes in Loudoun over the past 75 years—from a predominantly white, rural county to a greatly diversified community. The influx of Spanish speaking, and South Asian, families plays an important role in Loudoun’s ability to be rated the healthiest county in Virginia, as it has been ranked this year, also as the happiest county in Virginia, according to a Realtor survey. Noting Ashburn has just been named the 22nd best place to live, according to a recently released study, Goodfriend said, “a lot of that is due to the vibrancy of our growth and our changing communities.” Growth does bring challenges, he said. “How do we continue to provide services in regard to demand, as the county grows and diversifies?” But Goodfriend is optimistic, saying the county has handled the growth from “white to a very mixed community, almost a rural suburb of Fairfax in a very short period of time, incredibly well— better in many cases than Fairfax,” he said. He is particularly focused on making sure residents in the western portion of the county continue to receive the care they need. “From 1941 to 1980, we were a sleepy rural community where little changed— to where it was constant change.” How coming changes will affect the county and what they will be are key questions, Goodfriend said.
www.loudoun.gov/commute 703.771.5665
Member of
35 Acknowledgements More than 33,000 people visited the library last fiscal year to conduct research or attend lectures. In recent years the library has added invaluable private manuscript collections and oral histories to its inventory, most notably the Charles A. Johnston Collection that details life in Loudoun from the late 1700s through the 20th century—due to be released to the public next March. For hours and information on the library, go to leesburga.gov/thomasbalchlibrary, or call 703-737-7195.
Our thanks also for their assistance to: • Charles Preston • John Unger • Jane Covington
• Eugene M. Scheel, “The History of Loudoun County” • Yetive Weatherly, “Lovettsville, The German Settlement” • “Memories of a Mill Town,” Hillsboro Bicentennial Committee • The Ladies Board of Inova Loudoun Hospital
Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now
Fall Into
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State Arboretum of Virginia
Vertical
ArborFest
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Oct. 8 & 9 | 9 - 4:30 Rain or Shine Fall Festival & Plant Sale Native Plants • Small Trees Hayrides • Kids’ Activities Guided Tours $10 per car blandy.virginia.edu 540-837-1758 Ext 224
Friday Night Flights! Craft Beers & Canapés 5-7pm SUNDAY: 11:30-9:00 • MONDAY: 11:30-10:00 TUESDAY: CLOSED WEDNESDAY - SATURDAY: 11:30-10:00
13630 Lord Fairfax Hwy • White Post, VA www.laubergeprovencale.com 540-837-1375
The Mill aT CarTer hall arT Show October 1-9 • 10am-5pm
Featuring the art of Sara Schneidman and many others.
Golden Delicious by Brenda Hounshell
Art at the Mill Octobe r 1 -1 6 , 201 6
Burwell- Morgan Mill 15 Tanne ry Lane, Millwood, Virginia 22646 Hours: Sundays-Fridays 12-5; Saturdays 10-6 Admission: $5-adults, $3-seniors, students free Over 1,000 original artworks by 175 artists Information: 540.955.2600 Burwell-Morgan Mill: 540.837.1799 www.clarkehistory.org
Fly by Sara Schneidman
2611 Millwood Road • Millwood, VA 540.837.2384 www.millatcarterhall.com
LOUDOUN NOW | Discover Loudoun | SEPTEMBER 2016
Loudoun Now gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Laura E. Christiansen, curator of Manuscripts and Archives at Leesburg’s Thomas Balch Library for assistance with historic photographs used in this edition. The town-owned history and genealogy research center at 208 W. Market St. houses collections that focus on Loudoun County, regional and Virginia history, genealogy, ethnic history and military history, with emphasis on the American Civil War. The Balch is a designated Underground Railroad research site.
LOUDOUN NOW | Discover Loudoun | SEPTEMBER 2016
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