Neersville is an unincorporated community in northwestern 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...

, USA. It is located in the Between the Hills

Between the Hills

Between the Hills is a small valley in northwest Loudoun County, Virginia, distinct from, but associated with the greater Loudoun Valley.-Geography:...

 area of the Loudoun Valley

Loudoun Valley

The Loudoun Valley is a small, but historically significant valley in the Blue Ridge Mountains located in Loudoun County in northwestern Virginia in the United States.-Geography:...

 on Harpers Ferry Road (Virginia Secondary Route 671) at the foot of Short Hill Mountain

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, as a low-lying ridge barely over above the surrounding area...

. It is notable for being the birthplace of Confederate

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 guerrilla John Mobberly

John mobberly

John W. Mobberly, also known as John Mobley or Morbly, was a Confederate guerrilla who operated in the Loudoun Valley and Between the Hills region of Loudoun County, Virginia during the American Civil War. He also served as regular soldier in Elijah V...

.

History

Neersville derives its name from the Near brothers, Conrad and William, who were the first to lease and later own the land around the present village. Their land deeds began in the year 1786. The village began to coalesce around the dependencies of the Near farms in 1834 when the Lutheran Church was given a half acre on which they constructed St. Paul's Church. Within five years, the post office established a branch in the village which they christened Neersville and, with it, the "Capitol City" of Between the Hills was born.

The village continued to prosper in the antebellum years, boasting two mills, a saw and grist, by 1850. Unfortunately because of the limited flow of Piney Run, only one could operate at a time. The village suffered some during the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, mostly by the burning of the bridge across the Potomac River

Potomac River

The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...

 ,which kept the isolated village connected to the Harpers Ferry and the outside world via the B&O Railroad

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...

 and C&O Canal

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, abbreviated as the C&O Canal, and occasionally referred to as the "Grand Old Ditch," operated from 1831 until 1924 parallel to the Potomac River in Maryland from Cumberland, Maryland to Washington, D.C. The total length of the canal is about . The elevation change of...

. Though the village was occupied by both armies during the war, no real fighting took place there.

Following the conflict, the village began to prosper once again, especially with the opening of Sagle Road, which cut between from the Harpers Ferry Road at the village to the Charles Town Pike (present day Rt. 9) just east of Keyes Gap

Keyes Gap

Keyes Gap or Keyes' Gap is a wind gap in the Blue Ridge Mountain on the border of Loudoun County, Virginia and Jefferson County, West Virginia. The gap is traversed by Virginia State Route 9/West Virginia State Route 9. The Appalachian Trail also crosses the gap.-History:Originally known as...

 and the opening of the Nathaniel Prince Road which lead east from the village across the Short Hill, connecting the village to Lovettsville

Lovettsville, Virginia

Lovettsville is a town in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. The population was 853 at the 2000 census. The 2005-2009 American Community Survey estimated the population at 1187.-History:Following the 1722 Treaty of St...

. By 1872 the village even boasted a school. The 20th century was not so kind to Neersville. The population began to dwindle and the school closed in 1930, the general store closed in 1956 and by 1970 even St. Pauls had closed its doors. Furthermore Nathaniel Prince Road was not incorporated into the county road system and thus never graded and maintained for automobile use, thus cutting off the village from Lovettsville.

Newspapers

• Purcellville Gazette Newspaper - Serving Neersville weekly