Middleburg, Virginia
Encyclopedia
Middleburg is a town in Loudoun County
Loudoun County, Virginia
Loudoun County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and is part of the Washington Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the county is estimated to be home to 312,311 people, an 84 percent increase over the 2000 figure of 169,599. That increase makes the county the fourth...

, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 with a population of approximately 976 as of July 2010.

History

The town was established in 1787 by American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

 Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...

 and Virginia statesman
Statesman
A statesman is usually a politician or other notable public figure who has had a long and respected career in politics or government at the national and international level. As a term of respect, it is usually left to supporters or commentators to use the term...

, Levin Powell
Leven Powell
Leven Powell, also Levin, was a United States Representative from Virginia. He was born near Manassas in Prince William County, Virginia. He studied in private schools. He was deputy sheriff of Prince William County, Virginia, before he moved to Loudoun County in 1763, where he engaged in...

. He purchased the land for Middleburg at $2.50 per acre from Joseph Chinn
Joseph Chinn
Joseph William Chinn was a nineteenth century politician and lawyer from Virginia.Born at "Epping Forest" near Nuttsville, Virginia, Chinn graduated from Union College in Schenectady, New York in 1819, studied law in Needham, Virginia and was admitted to the bar in 1821, commencing practice in...

, a first cousin of George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

. It had been called "Chinn's Crossroads", but Powell chose the new name of Middleburg because of the village's location midway between Arlington and Winchester
Winchester, Virginia
Winchester is an independent city located in the northwestern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the USA. The city's population was 26,203 according to the 2010 Census...

, Virginia, on the Ashby Gap trading route (now followed by the U.S. Route 50
U.S. Route 50
U.S. Route 50 is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching just over from Ocean City, Maryland on the Atlantic Ocean to West Sacramento, California. Until 1972, when it was replaced by Interstate Highways west of the Sacramento area, it extended to San Francisco, near...

 highway).

Since the early 1900s, Middleburg began welcoming visitors that descended on the town for foxhunting and steeplechasing. The village soon earned a reputation as the "Nation's Horse and Hunt Capital", attracting prominent visitors from across the U.S. Middleburg is the home of the 15000 square feet (1,393.5 m²) National Sporting Library
National Sporting Library
The National Sporting Library & Museum The National Sporting Library and Museum, located in beautiful, historic Middleburg, Virginia, is dedicated to preserving, promoting, and sharing the literature, art, and culture of horse and field sports...

 research center for horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...

 and field sports, which publishes Thoroughbred Heritage on the Internet. New addition is being made to include an art gallery and museum.

The Middleburg Historic District
Middleburg Historic District (Middleburg, Virginia)
The Middleburg Historic District comprises the historic center of Middleburg, Virginia. The district extends along the downtown section of Washington Street, and is flanked on the east by Independence Street and to the west by Constitution Street. The district's commercial area is along Washington...

, comprising the 19th-century center of town, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

, as is the Red Fox Inn, the oldest building in town.

Geography

Middleburg is located at 38°58′6"N 77°44′15"W (38.968411, -77.737631).

According to the U.S. Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the town has a total area of 0.6 square miles (1.5 km²), all of it land. The elevation
Elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....

 is 486 feet.

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 632 people, 322 households, and 171 families residing in the town. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 1,083.8 people per square mile (420.7/km²). There were 364 housing units at an average density of 624.2 per square mile (242.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 76.58% White, 20.25% African American, 0.16% Asian, 1.27% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 1.74% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.27% of the population.

There were 322 households out of which 20.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.2% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 14.9% had a female
Female
Female is the sex of an organism, or a part of an organism, which produces non-mobile ova .- Defining characteristics :The ova are defined as the larger gametes in a heterogamous reproduction system, while the smaller, usually motile gamete, the spermatozoon, is produced by the male...

 householder with no husband present, and 46.6% were non-families. 39.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.96 and the average family size was 2.57.

In the town the population was spread out with 16.9% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 26.1% from 45 to 64, and 21.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 72.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 71.6 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $40,625, and the median income for a family was $60,313. Males had a median income of $41,875 versus $32,708 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the town was $32,643. About 6.7% of families and 9.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.7% of those under age 18 and 10.3% of those age 65 or over.

In popular culture

Middleburg was named as the location of the mysterious crop circles in the horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...

 spoof
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...

 Scary Movie 3
Scary Movie 3
Scary Movie 3 is a 2003 American science fiction comedy film, which parodies the horror, sci-fi, and mystery genres, directed by David Zucker. It is the third film of the Scary Movie franchise, as well as the first to have no involvement from the Wayans family...

(2003). The film shows an actual map of the Middleburg area, complete with actual surrounding towns and VA-15
Virginia State Route 15
The following highways in Virginia have been known as State Route 15:* State Route 15 , West Virginia to Woodstock* State Route 15 , now U.S. Route 52 and State Route 121 from North Carolina to Max Meadows...

 pictured on the map.

The New Hampshire scenes in the season three "Manchester" episodes of The West Wing were filmed in Middleburg.

Notable natives or residents

  • Melanie Blunt
    Melanie Blunt
    Melanie Anderson Blunt is the wife of former Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, serving as First Lady of Missouri from 2005 to 2009.During that period, she was the youngest spouse of a U.S. state governor in the United States. She was succeeded as First Lady by Georganne W...

    , former First Lady of Missouri (2005–2009)
  • Jack Kent Cooke
    Jack Kent Cooke
    Jack Kent Cooke was a Canadian entrepreneur and former owner of the Washington Redskins , the Los Angeles Lakers , and the Los Angeles Kings , and built The Forum in Inglewood, California and FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland.-Early career:Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Cooke moved with his family to...

     (1912–1997), businessman and former owner of the Washington Redskins
    Washington Redskins
    The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...

    , Baltimore Orioles
    Baltimore Orioles
    The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...

    , and the Los Angeles Lakers
    Los Angeles Lakers
    The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...

  • Sheila Johnson
    Sheila Johnson
    Sheila Crump Johnson is the team president, managing partner, and governor of the WNBA's Washington Mystics, a position she gained before the 2005 season. On May 24, 2005, Washington Sports and Entertainment Chairman, Abe Pollin, sold the Mystics to Lincoln Holdings LLC, where Johnson served as...

    , Billionaire and Co-founder of BET
  • Alice du Pont Mills
    Alice du Pont Mills
    Alice Francis du Pont Mills was an American aviatrix, thoroughbred race horse breeder and owner, environmentalist, philanthropist and a member of the prominent du Pont family....

     (1912–2002), aviatrix
    Aviator
    An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...

    , thoroughbred
    Thoroughbred
    The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

     race-horse breeder
    Breeder
    A breeder is a person who practices the vocation of mating carefully selected specimens of the same breed to reproduce specific, consistently replicable qualities and characteristics....

     and owner, environmentalist
    Environmentalism
    Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...

     and philanthropist
    Philanthropy
    Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...

    ; a member of the Du Pont family
    Du Pont family
    The Du Pont family is an American family descended from Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours . The son of a Paris watchmaker and a member of a Burgundian noble family, he and his sons, Victor Marie du Pont and Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, emigrated to the United States in 1800 and used the resources of...

  • Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
    Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
    Jacqueline Lee Bouvier "Jackie" Kennedy Onassis was the wife of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and served as First Lady of the United States during his presidency from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Five years later she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle...

     (1929–1994), book editor
    Editing
    Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...

     and First Lady of the United States
    First Lady of the United States
    First Lady of the United States is the title of the hostess of the White House. Because this position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, the title is most often applied to the wife of a sitting president. The current first lady is Michelle Obama.-Current:The...

     (1961–1963); a member of the Kennedy family
    Kennedy family
    In the United States, the phrase Kennedy family commonly refers to the family descending from the marriage of the Irish-Americans Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald that was prominent in American politics and government. Their political involvement has revolved around the...

  • Wendy Pepper
    Wendy Pepper
    Wendy Pepper is a fashion designer who appeared on the first season of the reality television show Project Runway, which aired on Bravo, from December 2004 through February 2005.-Early life and education:...

     (born 1964), fashion designer
  • Bruce Sundlun
    Bruce Sundlun
    Bruce Sundlun was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as 71st Governor of Rhode Island from 1991 to 1995. He was Rhode Island's second Jewish governor, and the only Jewish governor in the United States during his two terms...

     (born 1920), businessman, lawyer
    Lawyer
    A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

     and politician
    Politician
    A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

    ; former Governor of Rhode Island (1991–1995)
  • Elizabeth Taylor
    Elizabeth Taylor
    Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...

     (1932–2011), actress, jewelry
    Jewelry design
    Jewelry design is the art or profession of creating, crafting, fabricating, or rendering designs for jewelry. This is an ancient practice of the goldsmith or metalworker that evolved to a billion-dollar industry with the odyssey from ancient cultures into the machine age...

     and perfume
    Perfume
    Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and/or aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, animals, objects, and living spaces "a pleasant scent"...

     designer, activist
    Activism
    Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...

  • John Warner
    John Warner
    John William Warner, KBE is an American Republican politician who served as Secretary of the Navy from 1972 to 1974 and as a five-term United States Senator from Virginia from January 2, 1979, to January 3, 2009...

     (born 1927), lawyer
    Lawyer
    A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

     and politician
    Politician
    A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

    ; former U.S. Secretary of the Navy
    United States Secretary of the Navy
    The Secretary of the Navy of the United States of America is the head of the Department of the Navy, a component organization of the Department of Defense...

     (1972–1974), former U.S. Senator
    United States Senate
    The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

     from Virginia (1979–2009)
  • Keshia Knight Pulliam
    Keshia Knight Pulliam
    Keshia Knight Pulliam is an American actress. She is most recognized for her childhood role as Rudy Huxtable on the long-running NBC sitcom The Cosby Show. Currently, she appears as reformed con artist Miranda Lucas-Payne on the TBS comedy-drama Tyler Perry's House of Payne.-Personal life:Keshia...

     (born 1979) is an American actress, best known for her role on The Cosby Show
    The Cosby Show
    The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992...

     as Rudy Huxtable

Newspapers

  • Purcellville Gazette
    Purcellville Gazette
    The Purcellville Gazette is a weekly tabloid-style newspaper based in Winchester, Virginia and covering the area in and around Purcellville, Virginia. It is fully supported by amounts paid by advertisers and is distributed without charge...

    , a weekly newspaper, based in Purcellville
    Purcellville, Virginia
    Purcellville is a town in the Loudoun Valley of Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. The population was 3,584 at the 2000 census, but has undergone considerable growth since then. Purcellville is the major population center for western Loudoun and the Loudoun Valley...

    , Virginia, serving Middleburg and western Loudoun County
    Loudoun County, Virginia
    Loudoun County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and is part of the Washington Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the county is estimated to be home to 312,311 people, an 84 percent increase over the 2000 figure of 169,599. That increase makes the county the fourth...

    .
  • Middleburg Eccentric (middleburgeccentric.com), Middleburg's only locally owned and operated newspaper.

External links

  • middleburg.org, Town of Middleburg's official website
  • middleburg.com, Middleburg Online, a commercial, general-information website
  • "Middleburg Historic District", at The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership, a non-profit organization
    Non-profit organization
    Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

     dedicated to raising national awareness of the history in the region from Gettysburg
    Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
    Gettysburg is a borough that is the county seat, part of the Gettysburg Battlefield, and the eponym for the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg. The town hosts visitors to the Gettysburg National Military Park and has 3 institutions of higher learning: Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg College, and...

    , Pennsylvania
    Pennsylvania
    The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

     to Charlottesville
    Charlottesville, Virginia
    Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...

    , Virginia
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