{"nrhp_refnum":"70000806","name":"Aldie Mill Historic District","other_names":["Aldie Mill","Mercer House","Miller's House"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Both sides of U.S. 50 from E of Rte. 612 to W of Rte. 732","address_restricted":false,"city":"Aldie","county":"Loudoun County","state":"VA","lat":38.974836321000055,"lon":-77.64125592285333,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1970-09-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district at Aldie, Loudoun County, Virginia, made up of Aldie Mill, the Mercer House and the Miller's House, set in the gap of the Little River along the Lee-Jackson Memorial Highway. The mill dates from the early 19th century and was built for Charles Fenton Mercer.","why_significant":"Aldie Mill is described as one of the most handsomely outfitted and best-preserved mills in Virginia, with twin overshot wheels thought to be unique in the state. With the miller's house and manor house it forms an unusually complete early-nineteenth-century mill complex in a picturesque setting. Its importance is enhanced by the career of its founder, Charles Fenton Mercer, a military officer, legislator and congressman.","narrative":"Aldie is a small Loudoun County village centered on a grist mill, a miller's house and a manor house in the gap of the Little River. Charles Fenton Mercer settled nearby in 1803, built a brick house on a hill above the Little River Turnpike, and in 1804 obtained rights to dam the river. A large brick mill was raised soon afterward, and the village that grew beside it was named Aldie in 1810. The three-part mill retains much of its original machinery, including imported French flint burrstones, and its twin overshot wheels are thought to be unique in Virginia. The two-story brick miller's house sits behind the mill, while the altered, stuccoed Mercer House overlooks the road from the north. Mercer served as a militia brigadier-general, a Virginia legislator who promoted the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and a congressman opposed to the slave trade. Together the buildings form an unusually complete early nineteenth-century mill complex.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Built by Charles Fenton Mercer's slaves (mill)","architectural_style":"Federal (original portion of the Mercer House)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as fair and unaltered; the mill was still in operation when nominated, though its twin wheels no longer function.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:56.782662-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/47/6816/41681647/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/70000806.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000806/ebe0f581b6-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000806/ebe0f581b6-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Sarah Stierch","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aldie_Mill_Historic_District_G_-_Sarah_Stierch.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Sarah Stierch</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aldie_Mill_Historic_District_G_-_Sarah_Stierch.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41681647","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldie_Mill_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4713805"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/loudoun-county/aldie-mill-historic-district-70000806/"}