Type | Weekly newspaper |
---|---|
Format | Tabloid |
Owner(s) | Pregartner Publications & Communications |
Founder(s) | R. Ben Weber |
Publisher | Kim Pregartner |
Founded | 2004 |
Political alignment | none |
Language | English |
Ceased publication | 2020 |
Headquarters | Purcellville, VA |
ISSN | 1549-9308 |
The Purcellville Gazette was a weekly tabloid-style newspaper serving Western Loudoun County, Virginia encompassing Purcellville, Hamilton, Hillsboro, Round Hill, Bluemont, Waterford, Middleburg, Lincoln, Philomont, Paeonian Springs, and Leesburg. The Gazette was founded by Ben Weber in May 2004. The paper's main focus was community activities, the arts, educational and social pursuits, and sport. It was fully supported by advertisers and distributed without charge. Circulation grew to over 45k readers weekly and the paper received numerous awards for journalism and design.
This was the third paper in Weber's publishing company called Master Media Group. Along with the Purcellville Gazette was the Herndon Compass in Herndon, VA and the Old Town Compass in Winchester, VA. In 2014, Ben Weber sold the Gazette to Kim Pregartner for an undisclosed sum. The Herndon Compass was shut down once the then Town Council was unelected and the Old Town Compass was closed due to the printing cost increases. During this same time period, Weber was appointed to the Winchester City Council where he went on to win in the general election the following year.
Winchester is a cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, at the western end of the South Downs National Park, on the River Itchen. It is 60 miles (97 km) south-west of London and 14 miles (23 km) from Southampton, its nearest city. At the 2021 census, the built-up area of Winchester had a population of 48,478. The wider City of Winchester district includes towns such as Alresford and Bishop's Waltham and had a population of 127,439 in 2021. Winchester is the county town of Hampshire and contains the head offices of Hampshire County Council.
Herndon is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, part of the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. In 2020, the population at the census was 24,655, which makes it the largest of three incorporated towns in the county.
Lovettsville is a town in Loudoun County, located near the very northern tip of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. Settled primarily by German immigrants, the town was originally established in 1836.
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.
Round Hill is a town in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. Its population was 693 at the 2020 census. The town is located at the crossroads of Virginia Routes 7 and 719, approximately 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Washington, D.C. The town's name refers a hill two miles northeast of a 910-foot (280 m) hill used during the American Civil War as a signal post by both Confederate and Union troops. House of Round Hill was built in 2004. Patsy Cline went to Round Hill Elementary School.
The Washington–Baltimore combined metropolitan statistical area is a statistical area, including the overlapping metropolitan areas of Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. The region includes Central Maryland, Northern Virginia, three counties in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, and one county in south-central Pennsylvania. It is the most educated, highest-income, and third-most populous combined statistical area in the United States behind New York City–Newark, NJ and Los Angeles–Long Beach.
Virginia State Route 7 (VA 7) is a major primary state highway and busy commuter route in northern Virginia, United States. It travels southeast from downtown Winchester to SR 400 in downtown Alexandria. Its route largely parallels those of the Washington & Old Dominion Trail and the Potomac River. Between its western terminus and Interstate 395 (I-395), SR 7 is part of the National Highway System. In 1968, the Virginia State Highway Commission designated the road as the "Harry Flood Byrd Highway" between Alexandria and Winchester to commemorate Harry F. Byrd Sr. (1887–1966).
The Washington and Old Dominion Railroad was an intrastate short-line railroad located in Northern Virginia, United States. The railroad was a successor to the bankrupt Washington and Old Dominion Railway and to several earlier railroads, the first of which began operating in 1859. The railroad closed in 1968.
The Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park is a linear regional park in Northern Virginia. The park's primary feature is the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Trail, an asphalt-surfaced paved rail trail that runs through densely populated urban and suburban communities as well as through rural areas. Most of the trail travels on top of the rail bed of the former Washington and Old Dominion Railroad, which closed in 1968.
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.
Neersville is an unincorporated community in northwestern Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. It is located in the Between the Hills area of the Loudoun Valley on Harpers Ferry Road at the foot of Short Hill Mountain. It is notable for being the birthplace of Confederate guerrilla John Mobberly.
State Route 287 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. Known as Berlin Pike, the state highway runs 12.71 miles (20.45 km) from SR 7 Business in Purcellville north to the Maryland state line at the Potomac River near Lovettsville, where the highway continues as Maryland Route 17. SR 287 is the main north–south highway of the Catoctin Valley of northern Loudoun County.
The city of Winchester, Virginia, and the surrounding area, were the site of numerous battles during the American Civil War, as contending armies strove to control the lower Shenandoah Valley. Winchester changed hands more often than any other Confederate city.
Matthias Bartgis was a pioneer American printer in western Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.
Loudoun County Transit is a public-transportation service provided by the Loudoun County, Virginia government. Loudoun County Transit provides fixed routes and on-demand/paratransit bus service.
1st Maryland Cavalry Battalion, Potomac Home Brigade, originally organized as the 1st Potomac Home Brigade Cavalry, "Cole's Cavalry" was formed under the guidance of Henry A. Cole. There are also references to it being designated as Cole's 1st Volunteer Maryland Cavalry. The unit, a battalion, originally consisted of four companies, A, B, C & D and was initially enlisted between August 10 and November 27, 1861.
The Herndon Depot Museum, also known as the Herndon Historical Society Museum, is located in the town of Herndon in Fairfax County, Virginia. Built in 1857 for the Alexandria, Loudoun & Hampshire Railroad, the depot later served the Richmond and Danville Railroad, the Southern Railway and the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad. In 1875, the original shed was replaced with the current depot.
Purcellville Train Station is a historic railway station located in Purcellville, Loudoun County, Virginia. The station is adjacent to the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Trail. The Southern Railway constructed the station in 1904. The station is a one-story, rectangular frame building with a hipped roof and deeply overhanging eaves supported by triangular knee braces. It was a station on the Washington and Old Dominion Railway and later, the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad from 1912 until the line closed in 1968, with passenger service ceasing in 1951.