Philomont, Virginia | |
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  Philomont  Philomont  Philomont | |
| Coordinates: 39°3′22″N77°44′25″W / 39.05611°N 77.74028°W | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Virginia |
| County |  Loudoun |
| Elevation | 510 ft (160 m) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| ZIP code | 20131 [1] |
Philomont is an unincorporated community in western Loudoun County, Virginia. The name is derived from the Greek word philo meaning "beloved" and the French word mont or "mountain"; Philomont means "beloved mountain."
The village was established in the 19th century by Quakers. Minor skirmishes occurred in the area during the Civil War and troops from both sides routinely moved through Philomont. The famed Confederate irregulars "Mosby's Raiders" (also known as Mosby's Rangers) were active in the area throughout the war. Philomont lies within the Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area.
Philomont is located in the heart of Virginia's "Hunt Country," just six miles north of Middleburg and about five miles south of Purcellville. The greater Philomont area is known for horse farms, large estates, winding gravel roads, rolling hills and stacked stone walls. Philomont lies on the flanks of the relatively small Catoctin Mountain and to the west of the community lies the Blue Ridge Mountains. The village boasts an active community center, [2] volunteer fire department [3] and the Philomont Store as well as several bed & breakfast retreats. [4] [5] According to the Journal of the Philomont Historical Association the original Philomont Store opened in 1843 with the name Milhollen Brothers. Today the Philomont Store features a selection of wines, beer, and "pulled pork" sandwiches. [6]
The Philomont area has seen significant development over the past decade. The village is located in one of the fastest-growing counties in the United States. [7] However, the rural flavor of the area has been largely retained. In fact it is one of only two towns in the Commonwealth which residents must pick up their mail at the General Store. The region is popular with day-trippers from the Washington, D. C. metropolitan area to the east as well as bicyclists and motorcyclists. The village is located along the scenic and historic Snickersville Pike, a State Scenic Byway, at its intersection with Philomont Road (state route 630), which was formerly known as Jeb Stuart Road.. [8] The "Pike" runs for approximately 16 miles from U.S. Route 50 in Aldie to the village of Bluemont on Blue Ridge Mountain.
One of the village's seminal annual events is the Fire Department Barbecue held in May. This fundraiser features slow cooked beef with BBQ sauce and all the fixings and sides including a baked potato, coleslaw, salad and green beans.
The second annual Philomont PHair took place on April 24–25, 2010. The PHair is composed of local artisans, growers, plant vendors and commercial garden-themed retailers selling garden-themed items. Free parking was available at the Philomont Community Center. A delicious lunch was available for a nominal fee of $5.00. The entire community looks forward to the third annual Philomont Phair on April 30, 2011 and invites everyone out for an enjoyable "Day in the Country."
A third event is the annual Philomont Horse Show, held on the fourth Saturday in April. The show has been running since the 1950s and is a major fundraiser for the Philomont Fire Department. It used to be a rated show (even olympian Joe Fargis showed at Philomont in the early days), but the show is now on the VHSA and DCAHSA local circuit. The well-attended show boasts 2 grass rings and holds all the regular VHSA classes as well as fun classes like a Hunter Derby and pairs classes.
The village earned a reputation with traditional outdoors men and the social elite when actor Robert Duvall purchased an 1800s horse farm near the General Store. Occasional evenings one would find the likes of Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash at Duvall's cabin playing impromptu sessions along with Duvall.[ citation needed ]
Philomont was the home of the Stephen Roszell family, early converts to the Methodist Faith, as the result of frequent visits from itinerant horseback riding Francis Asbury, co-worker with the Wesley brothers who brought their faith to this country. The Roszell farmhouse "Shelburne" still exists today, on the Snickersville Pike, with its adjoining family cemetery. Also still in regular use and a center of the community is the historic Roszell United Methodist Church, named in honor of The Rev. Stephen Roszell, one of the early Methodist preachers.[ citation needed ]
Loudoun County is in the northern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. Loudoun County's seat is Leesburg. Loudoun County is part of the Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2020, Loudoun County had a median household income of $147,111. Since 2008, the county has been ranked first in the U.S. in median household income among jurisdictions with a population of 65,000 or more.
Hamilton is a town in the Loudoun Valley of Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. The population was 506 as of the 2010 census.
Middleburg is a town in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 673 as of the 2010 census. It is the southernmost town along Loudoun County's shared border with Fauquier County.
Purcellville is a town in Loudoun County, Virginia. The population was 8,929 according to the 2020 Census. Purcellville is the major population center for Western Loudoun and the Loudoun Valley. Many of the older structures remaining in Purcellville reflect the Victorian architecture popular during the early twentieth century.
The Battle of Middleburg took place from June 17 to June 19, 1863, in Loudoun County, Virginia, as part of the Gettysburg Campaign of the American Civil War.
The Battle of Upperville took place in Loudoun County, Virginia on June 21, 1863 during the Gettysburg Campaign of the American Civil War.
Unison is an unincorporated community village in Loudoun County, Virginia. It is located approximately five miles from Middleburg in the Loudoun Valley close to the Fauquier County border.
Bluemont is an unincorporated village in Loudoun County, Virginia located at the eastern base of Snickers Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The village's center is located along Snickersville Turnpike, 4 miles (6.4 km) west of the incorporated town of Round Hill. The village borders Virginia's fox hunting country and is within 1 mile (1.6 km) of the Appalachian Trail and the Bears Den and Raven Rocks formations in the Blue Ridge.
Aldie is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located between Chantilly and Middleburg in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. The historic village of Aldie is located on the John Mosby Highway in a gap between the Catoctin Mountains and Bull Run Mountains, through which the Little River flows. Aldie traditionally serves as the gateway to the Loudoun Valley and beyond.
Airmont is an unincorporated community in the Loudoun Valley of Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. It is located at the crossroads of Snickersville Pike and Airmont Road approximately 7 miles (11 km) south of the town of Round Hill and 3 miles (4.8 km) east of the village of Bluemont.
U.S. Route 50 is a transcontinental highway which stretches from Ocean City, Maryland to West Sacramento, California. In the U.S. state of Virginia, US 50 extends 86 miles (138 km) from the border with Washington, D.C. at a Potomac River crossing at Rosslyn in Arlington County to the West Virginia state line near Gore in Frederick County.
Loudoun County, Virginia, was destined to be an area of significant military activity during the American Civil War. Located on Virginia's northern frontier, the Potomac River, Loudoun County became a borderland after Virginia's secession from the Union in early 1861. Loudoun County's numerous Potomac bridges, ferries and fords made it an ideal location for the Union and Confederate armies to cross into and out of Virginia. Likewise, the county's several gaps in the Blue Ridge Mountains that connected the Piedmont to the Shenandoah Valley and Winchester were of considerable strategic importance. The opposing armies would traverse the county several times throughout the war leading to several small battles, most notably the Battle of Ball's Bluff.
The Snicker's Gap Turnpike was a turnpike road in the northern part of the U.S. state of Virginia. Part of it is now maintained as State Route 7, a primary state highway, but the road between Aldie and Bluemont in Loudoun County, via Mountville, Philomont, and Airmont, is a rural Virginia Byway known as Snickersville Turnpike, and includes the about 180-year-old Hibbs Bridge over Beaverdam Creek. This turnpike replaced, in part, the first toll road in the United States, which consisted of two roads from Alexandria northwest into the Shenandoah Valley.
The Battle of Loudoun Heights was a small cavalry skirmish during the American Civil War between John Mosby's Rangers and Major Henry A. Cole's 1st Potomac Home Brigade Maryland Cavalry on January 10, 1864, in Loudoun County, Virginia. Cole's Cavalry successfully defended a night raid against their camp on Loudoun Heights. The fight was one of the first engagements in which Union forces held their own against Mosby's vaunted partisans.
Mountville is an unincorporated community in the Loudoun Valley of Loudoun County, Virginia. The village is situated on Snickersville Turnpike halfway between Aldie and Philomont at the intersection of Mountville Road.
The Fight at Aldie was a small cavalry skirmish between Confederate forces under Major John S. Mosby and Union forces under Major Joseph Gilmore and Captain Franklin T. Huntoon in Aldie, Virginia, on March 2, 1863, as part of Mosby's Operations in Northern Virginia during the American Civil War. The fight which resulted in a Confederate victory was significant in that it was the first action of Mosby's Rangers within their operating territory in the central Loudoun Valley. In the fight Mosby and his men displayed many characteristics that would become their hallmark including the attack on numerically superior force while inflicting disproportionate casualties to those received.
The Second Battle of Dranesville, also known as the Ambush at Anker's Shop, was a small cavalry skirmish that took place between Confederate forces under Colonel John Mosby and Union forces under Captain James Sewall Reed east of Dranesville, Virginia in Loudoun County near present-day Sterling on February 22, 1864, as part of Mosby's operations in Northern Virginia in the American Civil War. After successfully defending a raid into "Mosby's Confederacy" by Cole's Maryland Cavalry, the following day Mosby led his Rangers against a second raid by Reed. The action resulted in a Confederate victory.
The Burning Raid was a Union raid conducted in the Loudoun Valley of Loudoun and Fauquier counties in Virginia in 1864 during the American Civil War. It was aimed at destroying the forage on which Confederate partisans operating in the area, specifically Mosby's Rangers, subsisted as well as at breaking the will of the citizens of the area for supporting the partisans.
The Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area Association (VPHA) is a nonprofit preservation and historic organization in Middleburg, Virginia. Founded in 1995 as the Mosby Heritage Area Association (MHAA), its mission is to educate about, and advocate for, the preservation of the historic, cultural and scenic resources in the Northern Virginia Piedmont.
Asa Rogers was an Virginia farmer, lawyer, merchant and politician who represented Loudoun County, Virginia in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly before the American Civil War, during which he became a Confederate officer and helped create Mosby's Raiders, and after which he lived in Middleburg.
Municipalities and communities of Loudoun County, Virginia, United States | ||
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| Unincorporated communities |
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