Purcellville Historic District

Purcellville's historic district covers 293 acres in the center of the town in the Loudoun Valley of western Loudoun County, Virginia. It contains a small, dense commercial core along North 21st Street, an industrial area beside the former Washington & Old Dominion Railroad, and several residential neighborhoods, including a historically African-American neighborhood centered on East G Street. Most buildings date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the railroad fueled the town's growth. Fires in 1900 and 1914 destroyed much of the commercial center, so many surviving commercial buildings are brick or concrete block, and molded concrete block appears in several houses. The district includes early stone and log buildings, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival and Craftsman houses, and public buildings such as the 1937 library and the 1923 school. Builders included Arch Simpson, the Case Brothers Company and African-American craftsmen such as Joseph N. Cook and Louis Rector. The period of significance runs from 1830 to 1957.