Loudoun Then & NowExploring Maps, Statistics, and Documents

LCPS Teaching American History (TAH), 2013

Annie Hough and her brother, Silas, on Main Street in Waterford, c. 1862. Source: www.waterfordhistory.org

Fall Festival at Brambleton Town Center, 2012. Source: www.brambletonview.blogspot.com

Essential Questions:• How has Loudoun County changed from its founding until

today?• How can maps, statistics, documents and other primary

sources help us to identify and better understand those changes?

• What major factors have contributed to Loudoun’s transformation from a rural agricultural area to a diverse, suburban area?

• How have the changes in Loudoun County reflected broader changes in Northern Virginia and in the nation as a whole?

Mapping Loudoun: 1853

The top right corner of Yardley Taylor’s 1853 map of Loudoun County. Source: www.loudounhistory.orgThe map is one of the most detailed maps of Loudoun County from the 19th century. The “History of Loudoun County” website provides an article by historian Eugene Scheel, himself a mapmaker, on the development and history of the map. http://www.loudounhistory.org/history/yardley-taylor-1853-map.htmThe image to the right is a map inset depicting the center of Leesburg, including the old court house.

The Yardley Taylor map is available online and can be purchased from the Loudoun County Government Mapping Office for $15. There are two excellent online versions that offer “zoomable” versions of the map:http://www.loudounhistory.org/map-yardley-taylor-1854.htmand…http://logis.loudoun.gov/archive/which includes historic map and aerial images of Loudoun County from 1853 to 2012.

Mapping Loudoun: 1860s

• http://www.loc.gov/resource/g3883l.cwh00044/ (Loudoun County map, c. 1860s). Follow the link to a “zoomable” version on the Library of Congress website.

Mapping Loudoun TodayThe Loudoun County Government Mapping Office offers a wealth of county maps that have a variety of themes. The 2011 planning map to the left shows the county’s master development plan. Other map types include election districts, census areas, and a series of environmental maps. All of these can be found on the “Loudoun Mapping Websites” page: http://logis.loudoun.gov/

Perhaps the most interesting feature of the site is “Aerial Archive” which allows a user to investigate historic and recent maps of the county and compare and contrast them to each other.

Loudoun’s Historic Preservation• The Loudoun County Government website also features an

interactive map that identifies and provides images and interviews related to Loudoun’s historic preservation districts: http://www.loudoun.gov/index.aspx?NID=1864

• Three of Loudoun’s best-known historic districts – Waterford, Oatlands, and Aldie – are pictured below.

Historic Waterford. Source:http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/journey/wat.htm

The Carter Mansion at Oatlands. Source: http://www.oatlands.org

Historic Aldie Mill operated from 1809 to 1971. Source:http://www.nvrpa.org/park/aldie_mill_historic_park

Loudoun’s Population, 1790-1920Year White “Negro” Total Pop. % Increase % Decrease

1790 14,749 4,213 18,962 --- ---

1800 15,200 5,323 20,523 8.2 ---

1810 15,577 5,761 21,338 3.9 ---

1820 16,144 6,558 22,702 6.3 ---

1830 15,497 5,442 21,939 --- 3.4

1840 13,840 6,591 20,431 --- 6.9

1850 15,081 6,998 22,079 8.0 ---

1860 15,021 6,753 21,774 --- 1.4

1870 15,238 5,691 20,929 --- 4.0

1880 16,391 7,243 23,634 12.9 ---

1890 16,696 6,578 23,274 --- 1.5

1900 16,080 5,868 21,948 --- 6.0

1910 15,946 5,221 21,167 --- 3.6

1920 15,767 4,810 20,577 --- 2.8

Source: U.S. Census Statistics printed in An Economic and Social Survey of Loudoun by Deck and Heaton in Charles P. Poland Jr.’s From Frontier to Suburbia, 1976.

Loudoun’s Growth, 1930-2010Year Loudoun

County Population

% Change in Loudoun County’s Population

Virginia Population

% Change in Virginia’s Population

U.S. Population

% Change in U.S. Pop.

1930 19,852 -3.5 2,421,851 4.9 123,202,660 16.2

1940 20,291 2.2 2,677,773 10.6 132,165,129 7.3

1950 21,147 4.2 3.318,680 23.9 151,325,798 14.5

1960 24,549 16.1 3,966,949 19.5 179,323,175 18.5

1970 37,150 51.3 4,648,494 17.2 203,211,926 13.3

1980 57,427 54.6 5,346,818 15.0 226,545,805 11.5

1990 86,129 50.0 6,187,358 15.7 248,709,873 9.8

2000 169,599 96.9 7.078,515 14.4 281,421,906 13.2

2010 301,127 77.6 8,001,024 13.0 308,745,538 9.7

2020 (est.)

409,907 36.1 --- --- --- ---

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Decennial Census 1930 to 2000Loudoun County Government, http://testbiz.loudoun.gov/Portals/0/a_1.pdf

Loudoun’s Growth

Transportation & DevelopmentBuilt along the Loudoun-Fairfax border, Dulles International Airport opened in 1962. Source: http://www.metwashairports.com/dulles/661.htmBrambleton (pictured below) is one of many planned communities built in Loudoun since the 1960s, when Sterling Park was developed.

Map of the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

Loudoun’s Diverse Population, 2010Category Loudoun County % of Total

Loudoun Population

United States % of Total U.S. Population

White 194,845 62.4 223,553,265 72.4

Black 21,934 7.0 38,929,319 12.6

Hispanic/Latino 38,576 12.4 50,477,594 16.3

Asian 45,795 14.7 14,674,252 4.8

Native American 143 0.1 2,932,248 0.9

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

How does Loudoun County’s population compare with that of the United States overall? How is the county more or less diverse?

Loudoun’s Wealthy Population

*How does Loudoun County’s per capita and median household income compare to that of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan statistical area (MSA), the state of Virginia, and the United States as a whole?

*What are some of the most important sources of Loudoun County’s wealth?

From Slavery…

Poster advertising a slave sale in Waterford, March 1830. The image can be found on a page devoted to a chronicle of African American history in Loudoun: http://www.loudounhistory.org/history/african-american-chronology.htm

Excerpts from Ann Tyler’s will, 1769:

“In the name of God Amen I Ann Tyler of Cameron Parish and County of Loudoun Widow being weake in body but of sound & perfect memory do make and ordain this my last will and testament in manner and form following,…”

“I give and devise to my Daughter Susanna Tyler & to the heirs of her body Lawfully begotten One Negro woman named Lettice & her increase excep the first child she shall bear hereafter which shall live to be eighteen months of age which I shall otherweys dispose of, and one featherbed which I have acquired in my widowhood.”

… to Civil Rights for All

Pictured above: Photo of 1960 Douglass High School and Loudoun County High School yearbooks displayed side by side. The Washington Post website includes an article and video about 1960 graduates recalling segregated schooling in Loudoun County:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2010/10/26/GA2010102607658.htmlPictured Left: Symington Aquatic Center at Ida Lee Park in Leesburg opened in 2009, the first such integrated pool facility in Leesburg.

Excerpt from Leesburg Today letter to the editor, May 2009, written by Gertrude Evans:

“Thank you Town of Leesburg for the opportunity for all to benefit from this much needed recreational opportunity [opening of Symington Aquatic Center], an opportunity which was denied to “all” of the Leesburg citizens back in the sixties, when the Fireman’s Pool was closed, because of my skin color and the skin color of my friends.”