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A PATH THROUGH WILLISVILLE
A PATH THROUGH WILLISVILLE
Friends of the Middleburg Museum and the Willisville Preservation Foundation gathered on North Madison Street in Middleburg recently for a very special event, a book signing with Carol Lee on the recently published book “A Path Through Willisville.”
The story of Willisville is one of strength and perseverance, of a community working together to make a better place for all. It’s about the people and the land.
The old school house and the old Willisville cemetery on the west end of the village and the Willisville Chapel on the east end are connected by historic Welbourne Road. It once served as the boundary for several large plantations worked by enslaved and free Black people who lived on or near the road.
After they were freed, several men and women bought small parcels and established the village of Willisville. Today many descendants of the original settlers live nearby, and many of the houses remain, retaining their historic characteristics.
In 2019, residents of the village and the broader Willisville community came together to form the Willisville preservation foundation and nominate the village to the National Register of Historic Places.
This book continues the foundation’s mission of honoring and preserving the community. The reader “walks“ through the village, parcel by parcel, learning about the original property owners, their immediate descendants and how the land evolved over time.
