Leesburg

European settlement near Leesburg began in the late 1730s as Tidewater planters moved into the area from South and East, establishing large farms and plantations. Many of the first families of Virginia were among those to settle in the area, including the Carters, Lees and Masons. Leesburg was built in 1740 and named for the Lee family, early leaders of the town and ancestors of Robert E. Lee. It may have been named to honor the influential Thomas Lee, or more generally the Lee Family. Nicolas Minor (Captain of the Fairfax Militia) had acquired land around the intersection of the Old Carolina Road and the Potomac Ridge Road (present-day State Route 7) and established a tavern there (“George Town”) in honor of the reigning monarch of Great Britain. The genesis of Leesburg occurred sometime before 1755 when Minor laid out the town on a traditional Virginia plan of six crisscross streets. The name change was passed by an Act of Assembly in 1758. Francis Lightfoot Lee and Phillip Ludwell Lee, two of Thomas’ sons, were early town trustees. However, the town is not named, as some have thought, for Thomas’ great-grandnephew, Robert E. Lee.

During the War of 1812, Leesburg served as temporary haven for the U.S. government and its archives (including the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, as well as portraits of early American leaders like Benjamin Franklin).

Early in the American Civil War, Leesburg was the site of the Battle of Ball’s Bluff, a small but significant Confederate victory. The town frequently changed hands over the course of the war as both armies traversed the area during the Maryland and Gettysburg campaigns. The Battle of Mile Hill was fought just north of the town prior to its occupation by Robert E. Lee in September 1892. Leesburg served as base of operations for Col. John S. Mosby and his partisan Raiders. The local courthouse (built in 1894) was among the few courthouses in Virginia not burned during the Civil War (1861-1865). In the 20th century, Leesburg was the home of World War II General George C. Marshall, architect of the famous Marshall Plan that helped re-build Europe after the war.

Leesburg continues to serve as the center of government and commerce for Loudoun County since the county’s formation in 1757. The town’s Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and cited as one of the best preserved and most picturesque downtowns in Virginia. Downtown merchants have recently labeled themselves as “Loudoun’s Original Town Center,” largely in response to the growing number of mixed-use shopping areas in proximity.