The Catoctin Valley is a small

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...

, geographically and culturally associated with the larger

Loudoun Valley The Loudoun Valley is a small, but historically significant valley in the Blue Ridge Mountains located in Loudoun County in Northern Virginia in the United States. Geography The lush and fertile valley lies between Catoctin Mountain and the B ...

Loudoun County, Virginia 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 ...

Geography

The Catoctin Valley encompasses the northern part of the Loudoun Valley east of the

Short Hill Mountain Short Hill Mountain is a mountain ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains in northwest Loudoun County, Virginia. Geography Short Hill rises sharply from the Piedmont countryside of the Loudoun Valley, northwest of Purcellville. It is a low-lying ri ...

and west of Catoctin Mountain. Its northern border is the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augu ...

, while its southern border is an intangible line running from the southern terminus of the Short Hill to the base of Catoctin Mountain, located approximately two miles north of

Virginia State Route 7 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 (Washington Street) in downtown Alexandria. It ...

. Across the Potomac in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, the valley continues on as the

Middletown Valley Middletown Valley, also historically known as Catoctin Valley, is a valley in western Frederick County in the state of Maryland. Geography It is bound to the west by South Mountain, to the east by Catoctin Mountain, to the south by the Potomac ...

, which historically has also been known as the Catoctin Valley. The valley contains the communities of

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

, Lovettsville, Wheatland, Morrisonville and Taylorstown. The valley is approximately wide east to west and {{convert, 11, mi, km long north to south. The valley is drained by the Catoctin Creek and its tributaries.

Transportation

Virginia State Route 287 State Route 287 (SR 287) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. Known as Berlin Pike, the state highway runs from SR 7 Business in Purcellville north to the Maryland state line at the Potomac River near Lovettsville, wher ...

, the Berlin Turnpike, is the major road through the valley, running north–south from the Potomac River to Virginia State Route 7.

Virginia State Route 9 Virginia State Route 9 (SR 9) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. Known as Charles Town Pike, the state highway runs from the West Virginia state line near Mechanicsville, where the highway continues west as West Virgin ...

runs east–west across the very southern portion of the valley.

History

The valley was settled in the 1730s by

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and Quaker immigrants who migrated south from southern

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. They established small self-sufficient farms centered on small mill villages. They brought with them and employed few if any slaves. This region of Loudoun stood in stark contrast to the southern Loudoun Valley and areas east of the Catoctin Mountain, where plantation-style farming was established by English settlers moving north out of Tidewater

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, due to the people's reluctance to use slaves and their strong economic ties to Maryland, this area of Loudoun was strongly Unionist in sentiment. As a result, early in the war, fierce partisan fighting broke out between the area's Unionist soldiers, the

Loudoun Rangers The Loudoun Rangers, also known as Mean's Rangers for their commander, Samuel C. Means, was a partisan cavalry unit raised in Loudoun County, Virginia, that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. The Rangers have the distinction of ...

and the county's pro-Confederate soldiers, at The Fight at Waterford.

References

*Scheel, Eugene. ''Loudoun County Discovered:Communities Corners and Crossroads.'' *Turner, Fitzhugh (ed.), ''Loudoun County and the Civil War.'' Loudoun County Civil War Centennial Commission, Leesburg, Va., 1961. Valleys of Virginia Landforms of Loudoun County, Virginia