Greenwood-Afton Rural Historic District

Greenwood-Afton Rural Historic District covers roughly 16,300 acres along the Blue Ridge Mountains, centered on northwestern Albemarle County, Virginia, and reaching into Nelson and Augusta Counties. Mountain woodlands, rolling pastures and broad open vistas surround large farms, crossroads communities and villages including Yancey Mills, Afton, Greenwood, Newtown and Free Town, the last two historically African-American enclaves. Many historic roads, gaps and creeks that shaped early transportation still follow their original paths, preserving settlement patterns. The district counts 954 contributing and 805 noncontributing resources, and architecture ranges from Georgian and Federal to Greek Revival, Colonial Revival and vernacular farm buildings. Ten properties were already individually listed, among them Mirador, Swannanoa, Seven Oaks and Blue Ridge Farm. The district was recognized for its concentration of properties tied to early Scots-Irish settlement and to the American Country House Movement, and for its well-preserved rural character despite nearby Charlottesville and Waynesboro and the presence of Interstate 64.