Waterford is an unincorporated village and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, suc ...

(CDP) in the

Catoctin Valley The Catoctin Valley is a small valley, geographically and culturally associated with the larger Loudoun Valley in Loudoun County, Virginia. Geography The Catoctin Valley encompasses the northern part of the Loudoun Valley east of the Short Hi ...

Loudoun County 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 C ...

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 are ...

, located along Catoctin Creek. Waterford is northwest of Washington, D.C., and northwest of Leesburg. The entire village and surrounding countryside is a

National Historic Landmark District National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ...

, noted for its well-preserved 18th and 19th-century character. In the

1810 United States Census The United States census of 1810 was the third census conducted in the United States. It was conducted on August 6, 1810. It showed that 7,239,881 people were living in the United States, of whom 1,191,362 were slaves. The 1810 census included o ...

, the population center of the United States was recorded as being just northwest of the village.

History

Founding

Waterford was established around 1733 by Amos Janney, a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

from

Bucks County, Pennsylvania Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the English ...

. Janney purchased on the south fork of Catoctin Creek and established a

grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...

and

saw mill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

in the area in the 1740s. Due to the success of the mills, the settlement became known as "Janney's Mill." The town grew quickly as a center of commerce for growers of grain.

Growth

Amos Janney died in 1747, leaving his estate to his sixteen-year-old son, Mahlon, who replaced the original log mill with a two-story structure. The village continued to grow, and in 1780, on the south side of Main Street were subdivided into 15 lots, upon which shops and homes were built. By the 1790s, the village was known as "Waterford", named after the city 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 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

, where some of its founders had once lived before immigrating to the United States. New residents continued to come from Pennsylvania, as Quakers were followed by

Presbyterians Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...

Lutherans Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

Baptists Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul com ...

, and Methodists. Waterford was also populated by

African-Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of enslav ...

, both free and enslaved.

Civil War

By the start of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

, the population of Waterford remained largely Quaker. As

pacifists Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigne ...

and

abolitionists Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The Britis ...

, the Quakers remained loyal to the

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

throughout the war. Waterford was the scene of a fierce

fight Combat (French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

between the county's Unionist and Confederate partisan units, 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 White's Rebels, respectively. In those days, it was the home for mostly Quakers who helped slaves escape to the North.

Waterford today

With the town falling into disrepair in the early part of the 20th century, the Waterford Foundation was formed to help save and preserve Waterford and its history. In 1974, the Waterford Foundation helped create an innovative land preservation program in which the historic properties of Waterford are protected through open space and façade easements. More than 60 easements have been granted. The town today is largely residential, although a number of businesses are based in the village. The Loudoun Mutual Insurance Company has been located in Waterford since 1849.

National Historic Landmark

The village was listed as a

Virginia Historic Landmark A Virginia Historic Landmark is a structure, site, or place designated as a landmark by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Inclusion process Nominations for the Virginia Landmark Register are simultaneously processed for inclusion on ...

in 1969. (with property zone map and more) Waterford and a significant portion of its surrounding countryside were declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...

in 1970. Waterford and its surrounding 1,400 acres were designated a National Historic Landmark, the highest designation of historic significance possible in the United States of America. This places the Waterford Historic District on the same level of significance as Independence Hall, Mount Vernon and Colonial Williamsburg. The designation was made in recognition of the town's well-preserved 18th and 19th-century architecture and landscape. Significant buildings include the mill (''circa'' 1750), Arch House Row (''circa'' 1750), Camelot School (''circa'' 1800), the Hague-Hough house, which is Waterford's oldest house (''circa'' 1740), and the 1882 Presbyterian church. and The

Catoctin Creek Bridge The Catoctin Creek Bridge crosses over Catoctin Creek in Loudoun County, Virginia. It currently carries Virginia Route 673, also known as Featherbed Lane. Originally located at a crossing of nearby Goose Creek, carrying the Leesburg Turnpike, i ...

was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, and the William Virts House was listed in 2011.

References

External links

Waterford Citizens' AssociationWaterford FoundationWaterford history
a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan
Waterford Historic District map
at Virginia DHR

at Virginia DHR *, and about 39 other records for individual structures {{authority control Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Unincorporated communities in Loudoun County, Virginia Former municipalities in Virginia Unincorporated communities in Virginia Census-designated places in Loudoun County, Virginia Census-designated places in Virginia Washington metropolitan area National Historic Landmarks in Virginia Protected areas of Loudoun County, Virginia Georgian architecture in Virginia Federal architecture in Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Loudoun County, Virginia Historic American Buildings Survey in Virginia