Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Leesburg Architectural Surveys 1971-2002 (M 016), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, Virginia

Acquisition Information

Town of Leesburg, Department of Planning, Zoning and Development, Leesburg VA.

Alternative Form Available

None

Accruals

2006.0018

Processing Information

Processed by Teckla H. Cox, 17 Feb 2006.

This is an artificially created collection; supporting information has been added and future survey forms will be added. Folders are filed by Virginia Department of Historic Resources numbers. Each folder may contain material from more than one survey. Check Vertical File Index for additional site information.

Historical Information

This collection is a composite of six architectural surveys of the Town of Leesburg prepared for Leesburg Department of Planning, Zoning & Development. The earliest, Original Architectural Survey of Leesburg Nicholas Minor Section, was prepared in 1971 by John G. Lewis and Calder Loth of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (then called Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission). In 1975 Hartzog, Lader & Richards prepared a survey of 625 sites, of which 16 have since been demolished. Additional surveys were done by HaAR in 1998, by GAI Consultants in 1999 and by EHT Traceries, Inc. in 2000. In 2002 EHT Traceries did a survey entitled Three Neighborhoods Abutting Leesburg's Old and Historic District. Funds were received from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources to perform the 1998-2002 surveys.

Except for the 2002 survey, the structures and sites surveyed are within the Old and Historic District. Leesburg is located at important north-south and east-west crossroads in the approximate center of Loudoun County. When Loudoun County separated from Fairfax County in 1757, the Town of Leesburg was established in 1758 and became the county seat. This brought growth to what had merely been a hamlet and it became a mercantile center of the agrarian community until the end of the 20th century. In 1971 the population of Leesburg was approximately 2000; at present (2006) the town has grown to over 30,000 people. By 1860 the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad connected it easily with Alexandria and Georgetown.

There are only a handful of pre-revolutionary buildings, but by the early 19th century the town began to grow much faster and new architectural styles appeared. The Old and Historic District was established by Leesburg in 1960 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. In 1990 the district was expanded to the south and west. The Old and Historic District covered in these surveys has been preserved by the zoning overlay district which protects it by requiring any new construction, renovation, alteration, or demolition to be approved by the Board of Architectural Review which bases its decisions on adopted written guidelines and by reference to these surveys.

Building styles vary widely within the town and include residential and commercial structures of considerable elegance as well as modest buildings and outbuildings. The historic district and its environs remain primarily representative of the 19th and early 20th centuries but with some more modern buildings built to complement the existing residential and commercial structures.

Scope and Content

The collection includes 611 folders:

The files include Blocks 1 - 11, 13 - 19, 21 - 32, and 34 - 38 of Loudoun County tax map 48 A. It also includes a few buildings on tax map 48 that do not have block numbers.

Related Material

Additional information may be found in vertical file labeled "Historic Properties". Also see Architectural Survey of Leesburg Nicholas Minor Section by John G. Lewis and Calder Loth, V REF 723 LEW, and Exploring Leesburg: Guide to History and Architecture , V REF 975.528 SMI. Revision of the Leesburg Old & Historic District National Register Form & The Preparation of the Rock Spring Farm National Register Nomination , V REF 975.528 REV.

Adjunct Descriptive Data

Bibliography

Other Finding Aid

Available in printed format. There is no map for the 1971 survey; 1975 survey maps are located in the Town of Leesburg Department of Planning, Zoning & Development; 1998 - 1999 maps located in map case # 1; 2002 survey map located in Leesburg Department of Planning, Zoning & Development.