Hillsboro Historic District

Hillsboro is a small linear town in a gap of the Short Hills at the base of the Blue Ridge, strung along Route 9 in Loudoun County, Virginia. Settled by Quakers from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in the later 18th century, it was legally established in 1802 and grew along a minor trade route between Leesburg and what is now Charles Town, West Virginia. Its 43 buildings, 21 of them predating 1835, are largely built of local field stone, which gives disparate buildings a shared color and texture. Town trustees skipped a gridiron plan, leaving narrow, deep lots and an informal streetscape. Victorian porches and frame additions were later layered onto early stone houses. By 1835 the town held mills, stores, a tavern, an academy and many tradesmen, serving nearby farms. Troops passed through during the Civil War. The district was recognized as a well-preserved example of an early linear Virginia town.