Leesburg, Virginia Leesburg, Virginia Town of Leesburg King Street in the historic precinct of Leesburg King Street in the historic precinct of Leesburg Leesburg is positioned in Northern Virginia Leesburg - Leesburg Leesburg is a historic town inside and the governmental center of county of Loudoun County, Virginia.
Leesburg, like the rest of Loudoun, has undergone considerable expansion and evolution over the last 30 years, transforming from a small, rural, piedmont town to a suburban bedroom improve for commuters to the nationwide capital.
Leesburg was titled to honor the influential Thomas Lee and not, as is prominent belief, his son Francis Lightfoot Lee who lived in Loudoun and brought up the bill to establish Leesburg, nor as is sometimes thought, Robert E.
The historic Leesburg courthouse serves as the seat of government for Loudoun County, Virginia Prior to European settlement, the region around Leesburg was occupied by various Native American tribes.
In 1699, the Algonquian Piscataway (Conoy) moved to an island in the Potomac in the environs of Leesburg, and were there when the first known Europeans attended what is now Loudoun. Route 15) was a primary route of travel between north and south for Native tribes. According to small-town historians[who?], a pitched battle was fought near present Leesburg between the warring Catawba and Lenape tribes, neither of whom lived in the area.
As they were returning northward, a party of Catawbas overtook them before they reached the Potomac, but were defeated in a pitched battle two miles (3 km) south of Leesburg.
European settlement of near Leesburg began in the late 1730s as tidewater planters moved into the region from the south and east establishing large farms and plantations. Many of the First Families of Virginia were among those to settle in the region including the Carters, Lees and Masons. The genesis of Leesburg occurred sometime before 1755 when Nicholas Minor acquired territory around the intersection of the Old Carolina Road and the Potomac Ridge Road (present day Route 7) and established a tavern there. Even with lack of expansion around the tavern, upon Loudoun's formation in 1757, Minor dubbed the sparse compilation of buildings about his tavern "George Town" with respect to the reigning monarch of Great Britain. The village's prosperity changed the following year when the British Colonial Council organized the establishment of the county Court House at the crossroads. Accordingly, Minor had a town laid out on the traditional Virginia plan of six criss-cross streets.
On October 12 of that year (1758) the Virginia General Assembly established the town of Leesburg upon the 60 acres (0.24 km2) that Minor laid out. Leesburg was retitled to honor the influential Thomas Lee and not, as is prominent belief, his son Francis Lightfoot Lee who lived in Loudoun and brought up the bill to establish Leesburg, nor as is sometimes thought, Robert E.
Lee (his great-grandnephew). When the postal service was established in Leesburg in 1803 the branch was titled "Leesburgh"; the 'h' persisted until 1894. During the War of 1812, Leesburg served as a temporary haven for the United States Government and its archives (including the Declaration of Independence and the U.S.
When ongoing standard began on the Capitol, Potomac Marble from quarries just south of Leesburg was used. Early in the American Civil War Leesburg was the site of the Battle of Ball's Bluff, a resounding Confederate victory.
Lee in September 1862. Leesburg also served as a base of operations for Col.
In the 20th century, Leesburg was the home of World War II General George C.
Today Leesburg continues to serve as the center of government and commerce for Loudoun County.
The town's Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and cited as one of the best preserved and most picturesque downtowns in Virginia.
Downtown merchants have recently labeled themselves "Loudoun's (or, Loudoun County's, depending on the audience) Original Town Center," largely in response to the burgeoning number of mixed-use shopping in proximity. As of 2007, the town had been governmental center of county for 249 of the previous 250 years. The Leesburg region includes 21 entries on the National Register of Historic Places, including: On September 14, 2008, The Town of Leesburg jubilated its 250th birthday.
Symbology: This flag represents the coat of arms that was in use by the Lee Family of Virginia when Leesburg was established in 1758.
The blue and yellow checkerboard band on the red back ground represents the Lee Family Coat of Arms at which Leesburg is titled for and the white Cinquefoil (five petal flower) on a blue background comes from the Astley Family Coat of Arms.
Leesburg is positioned at 39 7 N 77 33 W (39.109, -77.558). Leesburg is positioned in the northern Virginia Piedmont at the base of the easternmost chain of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Catoctin Mountain.
The town is an region of the Piedmont known as the Culpeper Basin (an inland sea amid the Jurassic period) and is also in the valley of the Potomac River, so that the overall relief is much less dramatic than other Virginia Piedmont towns.
Elevation in town ranges from about 350 feet (110 m) to 400 feet (120 m), though portions of Leesburg along the foot of Catoctin Mountain may be considerably higher.
The principal drainage for the town is Tuscarora Creek and its northern branch, alluded to as the Town Branch, which empties into Goose Creek just east of the town.
Enumeration estimates as of July 1, 2013, showed the populace of Leesburg at 47,673 citizens .
Leesburg presently has four enhance high schools directed by the Loudoun County Public School system; Loudoun County High School, which serves the portion, Heritage High School, which serves the easterly portion, Tuscarora High School, which serves the northern portion, and Riverside High School, which serves the improve of Lansdowne.
Leesburg is also served by a several private schools, including Dominion Academy, a K 8 non-denominational Christian school; Leesburg Christian School, a K 12 non-denominational Christian school; and pre-K-8 Loudoun Country Day School.
The Leesburg Volunteer Fire Company provides fire protection services. The Loudoun County Volunteer Rescue Squad provides rescue and emergency medical services. Both the fire business and rescue squad are volunteer organizations supplemented with partial staffing from the Loudoun County Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management. The fire business can trace its roots back to 1863; the rescue squad was formed in 1952. Leesburg is also served by a town police department. Leesburg operates the Leesburg Executive Airport at Godfrey Field, which serves Loudoun County with private and corporate airplane operations.
A designated reliever airport for Dulles International, the airport accounts for almost $78 million per year in economic impact as stated to a 2011 study by the Virginia Department of Aviation. It is home (as of 2005) to over 240 airplane , and hosts 20 30 jet operations per day.The airport was assembled in 1963 to replace the initial Leesburg airport, which Arthur Godfrey owned and alluded to affectionately as "The Old Cow Pasture" on his radio show. Godfrey, who, by the early 1950s, had purchased the Beacon Hill Estate west of Leesburg, used a DC-3 to commute from his farm to studios in New York City every Sunday evening amid the 1950s and 1960s.
His DC-3 was so powerful and noisy that Godfrey assembled a new airport, financing it through the sale of the old field. Originally titled Godfrey Field, it is now known as Leesburg Executive Airport at Godfrey Field.
Also positioned near Leesburg is the National Conference Center, which the Xerox Corporation assembled in the 1970s.
Market Station, positioned in the southeast portion of Leesburg's Historic District, includes a number of high-tech and legal offices, retail shops, and restaurants that are homed inside seven restored historic buildings (a barns freight station, a barns stationmaster's home, a log home, two destroyed and two gristmills, some of which were reconstructed in or relocated to the site. A plaza on the east side of the site includes a several structures painted in the yellow and green colors of the stations of the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad, which served the town until 1968.
According to Leesburg's FY 2014 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the town are: 4 Town of Leesburg 250-500 Ida Lee Park - Located near the north side of Leesburg, Ida Lee Park was made possible in 1986 by the donation of Greenwood Farm to the Town of Leesburg by William F.
Rust's grandmother, to preserve the historic link between the Lee family of Virginia and the Town of Leesburg.
Ida Lee spent her married life at "Rockland"; the Rust family home positioned near Leesburg, and in her later years lived in a home assembled by her sons at 113 East Cornwall Street in Leesburg.
The Rusts also donated 3 acres (12,000 m2) of territory from the initial 141 acres (57 ha) for the Rust Library positioned contiguous to Ida Lee Park.
Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Trail - Hikers, bikers and joggers can travel in and through Leesburg on the trail, a 45-mile (72 km) long rail trail that the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority constructed on the historic W&OD RR's right-of-way.
Red Rocks Wilderness Overlook Regional Park - Located east of Leesburg along the banks of the Potomac River, the park, directed by the NVRPA, includes 67 acres (27 ha) of woodlands and over 2 miles (3.2 km) of trails dominant to bluffs along the river. Frances Speek donated the territory to NVRPA in 1978.
The Rust Manor House and Nature Sanctuary - Located near the west side of Leesburg at the foot of Catoctin Mountain, the sanctuary includes a mansion and a nature reserve that the Audubon Naturalist Society of the Central Atlantic States, Inc., owns and operates. Leesburg's Flower and Garden Festival - Held annually in April in the Historic District, the event contains garden displays, vendors and entertainment. Leesburg Air - Show - is held annually on the last Saturday in September.
Jonathan Allen, experienced football player for the Washington Redskins, raised in Leesburg; went to high school at close-by Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn.
Joe Bauserman, former minor league baseball and college football player, who briefly played for the Ohio State Buckeyes, was born in Leesburg.
Arthur Godfrey, American entertainer, lived in Leesburg.
Lewis Nixon, United States Naval architect and once prestige of Tammany Hall born in Leesburg, Virginia Mohamad Anas Haitham Soueid (also known as Alex Soueid and Anas Alswaid), Syrian-born naturalized United States citizen and a resident of Leesburg, Virginia who was indicted on espionage-related charges by federal prosecutors in October 2011.
Loudoun Discovered: Communities and Crossroads, Volume Two, Leesburg and the Old Carolina Road.
"Town of Leesburg: A Brief History of Leesburg".
Official website of the Town of Leesburg, Virginia.
"Official website for the Leesburg Downtown Business Association".
"Leesburg says county should stay".
"Morven Park - Historic Site Equestrian Center and Event Venue in Leesburg, VA".
"Leesburg Markers".
"Leesburg Volunteer Fire Company 1".
"Loudoun County Volunteer Rescue Squad, Company 13, Leesburg, VA".
"Leesburg Police Department".
"Leesburg, Virginia".
"Town of Leesburg CAFR".
Town of Leesburg, Virginia.
"Leesburg Flower & Garden Festival".
"Leesburg Air - Show".
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Municipalities and communities of Loudoun County, Virginia, United States Virginia Towns in Virginia
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Towns in Virginia - Towns in Loudoun County, Virginia - Washington urbane region - Virginia populated places on the Potomac River - County seats in Virginia
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