@ DHRi Vrrgini, Dep,rtmort of Histo,i, Resom-ees PRELIMINARY INFORMATION FORM (PIF) for HISTORIC DISTRICTS Purpose of Evaluation Please use the following space to explain briefly why you are seeking an evaluation of this property. Although Loudoun' s rural road network pre-dates the 17 57 founding of the County, this historic asset has remained in continuous use in Loudoun's rural west. With Loudoun's continued shift away from its origins as a fanning community, there is the need to document the network and plan for its future survival with the hopes that the roads don't succumb to demands of modem, high-speed travel. Loudoun County's 2019 Comprehensive Plan acknowledges the importance of the county's historic roads as a contributing resource to the "character of the rural landscape." The Plan also recognizes the importance of continued use stating that in addition to vehicular travel, the rural road network "provides opportunities for recreational use such as hiking, biking and equestrian sports." 1 Local elected leaders have written in support of preservation of the roads. Letters are attached as an appendix to this PIF. America's Routes, a local group of engaged citizens, is dedicated to documenting Loudoun's Rural Road network as a means to educate the public as to the roads' historic significance. American's Routes believes that with education, there will be more public interest in preserving this unique historic asset. For more information, please see hllps://amcricasmutes.com Are you interested in applying for State and/or Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credits? Yes _No x Are you interested in receiving more information about DHR's easement program? Yes No_x_ 1. General Information District name(s): Western Loudoun Rural Road Network Main Streets and/or Routes: --all- ---- Village or Hamlet: Middleburg, Unison, Bloom.field, Bluemont, Woodgrove, Hillsboro, Loudoun Heights. Lucketts. Taylorstown, Wt LI isvi ll e, St Louis, Loudoun Heights . .. and more Name of the Independent City or County where the property is located: __L_ o_u_d_o_u_n_C_o_u_n......,ty____ _ 2. Physical Aspects Acreage: 260 miles (estimate) Setting (choose only one of the following): Urban __ Suburban ___ Town -'"x=-_ Village _x_ _ Hamlet -'"x.C....-_ Rural_x_ Briefly describe the district's overall setting, including any notable landscape features: Western Loudoun' s pastoral landscape is composed of expansive view sheds across agricultural fields interspersed with rural villages, knit together by a rural road network. This rural road network is a distinctive hallmark of western Loudoun County, their winding lanes contributing as much to the experience as the destination. Department of Historic Resources Preliminary Information Form 2 Rev. January 2018 5/6/2020 3. Architectural/Physical Description Architectural Style(s): ____v.,__, e=rn=a=c=u=la=r________________ _ If any individual properties within the district were designed by an architect, landscape architect, engineer, or other professional, please list here: Luten Bridge Company, York PA If any builders or developers are known, please list here: ___N'----"----=/ A-=-- --------- Date(s) of construction (can be approximate): --"1~7_5~7_-_1_9_6~2 ____________ Are there any known threats? Suburban development/ changes in use (See photo 19) NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION AND INTEGRITY Loudoun's vast network of rural roads retains it historic integrity. Design elements include roadway width, parallel drainage ditches, and alignment. Loudoun's rural roads, as originally designed, were quite narrow in width, roadbeds ranging from 12' - 14' (for single lane) to 18' - 20' feet (for dual lane.) Parallel drainage ditches mark the outside edge of the roadway. The road width remains unchanged, evidenced by steep banks, testimony to centuries of maintaining the original width. 1 It was common for mid to late 18 h century roads to follow the most direct route or a surveyed boundary line, resulting in remarkably straight alignment, even crossing difficult terrain such as a steep hill or soft bottomland. Many roads, as evidenced by parallel stonewalls, retain their original alignment. [See Photo 4 - Millsville Road and Photo 5 - Ebenezer Road] With the advent of the automobile, the original design of right-angled crossroads evolved to S­ curves in order to accommodate higher speed travel. Often the traces of the original crossroad remain abandoned in place, marking the original route. [See Photo 1- Middleburg Training Center] Secondary resources such as bridges bear the mark of simple but ingenious design, testimony to their rural context. Luten - designed bridges are the most prevalent and many remain in place. The poured-concrete, single-span arch was perfect for rural settings. Many Luten bridges were installed as early as 1916 and 1918, marking the arrival of the motor vehicle. [See Photo 16 - Limestone School Road.] The low water bridges, another secondary resource, demonstrate vernacular design of gentlemen engineers. Many low water bridges were made by coupling steel culverts together, originally faced in fieldstone and later parged with concrete. [Photo 2 - Newlin Mill Road] There is a single example of a steel truss bridge [DHR 053-0131] at Catoctin Creek on Featherbed Road. This example of engineered design was originally installed on Route 7/ Leesburg Turnpike and later moved to its current, rural location. [See Photo 14 - Feather Bed Lane.] Location The location ofLoudoun's rural road network was largely dictated by the pattern of connecting mills to markets. Throughout all of Loudoun, the location of the early roads was chosen in response to a petition to connect a mill to a wider transportation network, such as a turnpike or ferry. Within the rural road network, the location of the roads largely remains original, as evidenced by sunken travel ways, drainage ditches, or stonewalls. Department of Historic Resources Preliminary Information Form 3 Rev.January 2018 5/6/2020 Setting Loudoun's road network can be defined by its unique cultural and environmental setting: The cultural setting remains the much same as during the Period of Significance. Historic villages - such as Taylorstown in the north; Waterford and Hillsboro in the center; and Unison, Middleburg and Philomont in the South- align with the road network's 30' right of way and contribute to the network's historic cultural setting. [See Photo 7, Village ofWoodgrove] The environmental setting also remains the largely same as during the Period of Significance. Open, agricultural vistas, outside of the 30' boundary, remain. Many are in conservation easement, protected for perpetuity. Witness trees, which have grown into the 30' boundary, have become an integral part of the roadway. In other places, century old tree roots form the wall of the sunken lane, becoming an integral part of the road. [See Photo 12 - Quarter Branch Road] Materials Loudoun's rural roads have a 'living finish' - no different than lime mortar, which undergoes continued repointing; a roof, which changes through time from shakes, to tin, to pre­ painted metal; or weatherboard, which receives continued lime washes. Materials are much the same as during the Period of Significance. Originally, Loudoun's rural road network was 'unimproved'2 meaning no additional surface material was applied. In the late 1700s and early 1800s, road construction consisted of clearing undergrowth and trees to the specified width, and in some cases, slightly crowing the surface and digging parallel drainage ditches. The roadway 'material' was an earthen surface, which changed with weather patterns and use - mud in the spring and evolving into rammed earth over time. By the early 20Lh century, some mral roads were graded and graveled; the same methods and materials still used today. In places, bedrock shows through, allowing the original level of the road to appear. Today, VDOI uses A-21 gravel, which is primarily crushed limestone sourced locally from Clarke County. A-21 gravel is designed as a construction base for laying roads, but not as a road smface. 4 This type of gravel disintegrates with wear, turning into dust in the summer and mud in the winter, altering the state of the road 'material' between seasons.5 Typically, rather than gravel fully covering the road surface, sprinklings of gravel remain at the crown with the bulk of the gravel washing out at ditches. Today's roadbed is more likely packed earth than gravel, and ironically, a strikingly authentic surface. [See Photo 8 - Bell Road] Workmanship Many ofLoudoun's rural roads follow sunken lanes, evidence of workmanship of laborers repeatedly digging out the road surface in an attempt to reach a stable base. Often the road labor was that of the enslaved and these sunken lanes appear more frequently in southwest Loudoun where slave labor was more common. The parallel drainage ditches, also dug by hand, are evidence oflaborers' workmanship. [See Photo 3 - Welbourne Road and Photo 5 -Ebenezer Road] Other associated secondary resources, inside the 30' right of way, which bear the workmanship of vernacular construction techniques, are dry stacked stone retaining walls. Locally trained masons originally built these walls and these walls have evolved over time, many having been pointed with concrete. [See Photo 13 - Furnace Mountain Road] Property Types The National Task Force for Historic Roads (NTFHR), part of the Rural Heritage Program of the National Trust, has established three classifications of historic roads: cultural routes, engineered routes, and aesthetics routes. Department of Historic Resources Preliminary Information Form 4 Rev.January 2018 5/6/2020 Cultural Routes are legacies handed through necessity or tradition, developed without engineering, such as a path or migration route. Loudoun's cultural routes developed from paths dictated by geography or paths following a property survey line. Turnpikes Loudoun's original cultural routes were dictated by the distinct geography of mountain passes. Loudoun's first roads were Native American trails connecting mountain passes in the Blue Ridge through gaps in the Catoctin and Bull Run.