Leesburg, Virginia

Leesburg is a historic town in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States of America. It is the county seat of Loudoun County. Leesburg is located at the northwestern terminus of the Dulles Greenway, a toll road which connects with the Dulles Toll Road (both parts of Virginia State Highway 267) at Dulles International Airport near Sterling, Virginia. Leesburg is approximately 40 miles west-northwest of Washington, DC. As with many areas of Northern Virginia and of Maryland, Leesburg is largely a bedroom community for the national capital.

During the War of 1812 Leesburg served as a temporary haven for Dolley Madison as she left Washington, D.C. with various important documents and portraits of early American leaders. Local tradition has it that Leesburg thus became the capital of the USA for a brief period.

Early in the Civil War Leesburg was the site of the Battle of Balls Bluff, a Confederate victory, but later Leesburg was largely held by Union troops. The local courthouse was built in 1894 and is not, as thought by many, one of the few courthouses in Virginia that were not burned during the war.

Current growth of the town and its surroundings concentrates along the Dulles Greenway, and along the Leesburg Pike (Virginia State Highway 7) which roughly parallels the Potomac River between Winchester, Virginia to the west, and Alexandria, Virginia to the east.

Located near Leesburg is the mega-plex The National Conference Center, built by the Xerox Corporation in the 1970s and used by the government and private business as a meeting place. This maze of underground buildings is connected through three main focal points, and is currently the main headquarters of Civilian Police International, a government sub-contract company.

Leesburg has two high schools, Loudoun County High School which serves the western portion, and Heritage High School, which serves the eastern portion. Both schools are part of the Loudoun County Public School system.

Leesburg is the seat of county government, and is known for providing outstanding parks and recreation opportunities for its citizens. Ida Lee Park, occupying the former Morven estate north of town, has walking trails, soccer fields, a swimming pool, tennis courts, meeting rooms, and is co-located with a county run library. Of interest to history buffs: When Ida Lee Morven donated the property to the Town of Leesburg, she stipulated that the Town could never build a road 'through' her property. She was very concerned about the planned 'Battlefield Parkway'. So, the parking lots for the library and recreation center have a dividing sidewalk that prevents traffic from crossing over.

Other recreational opportunities for Leesburg residents include parks run by Loudoun county (including the outstanding Franklin Park water recreation area in Purcelville) and the Washington & Old Dominion Trail, a railroad right of way converted to a hiking/biking/jogging path by the Northern Virginia Regional Parks Authority.

Leesburg operates the Leesburg Executive Airport, which serves the entirety of Loudoun County (without 'any' financial assistance from that entity) with private and corporate aircraft operations. A designated reliever airport for Dulles International, the airport accounts for nearly $ 45 Million per year in economic impact to the region (Virginia Department of Aviation). It is home (as of 2005) to over 240 based aircraft and hosts 20-30 jet operations per day.

Leesburg Executive Airport was built in 1963 to replace a grass field on the eastern edge of the town. The field occupied 100 acres of a 224 acre plot owned by radio and TV personality Arthur Godfrey. The original Leesburg airport, which Godfrey owned and referred to affectionately as 'The Old Cow Pasture' on Godfrey's show, was less than a mile from the center of town, and residents had come to expect rattling windows and crashing dishes every Sunday evening and Friday afternoon.

Godfrey, who by the early 1950's had purchased the Beacon Hill Estate, used a DC-3 to commute to the studios in New York City from his farm every Sunday night during the 1950's. His DC-3 was so powerful (and noisy) Godfrey proposed building a new airport by selling the old field, and donating a portion of the sale to a local group. In 1960, a group of local pilots, led by George Hammerley and Stanley Caulkins, applied to the FAA for matching funds, using some $ 200,000 donated by Godfrey from the sale of his 'Old Cow Pasture'. Orginally named Godfrey Field (since Godfrey funded the majority of the airport) it is now known as Leesburg Executive Airport at Godfrey Field.

Geography

Leesburg is located at (39.109219, -77.557868).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 30.0 km² (11.6 mi²), all land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 28,311 people, 10,325 households, and 7,258 families residing in the town. The population density was 942.3/km² (2,440.1/mi²). There were 10,671 housing units at an average density of 355.2/km² (919.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 83.29% White, 9.20% African American, 0.19% Native American, 2.61% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 2.53% from other races, and 2.15% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.89% of the population.

Of all households 41.2% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.3% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.7% were non-families. 22.9% are made up of individuals and 4.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.20.

In the town the population was spread out with 29.4% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 38.9% from 25 to 44, 19.2% from 45 to 64, and 6.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 96.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.9 males.

The median income of the households in the town is $68,861, and the median income of the families is $78,111. Males had a median income of $51,267 versus $35,717 for females. The per capita income for the town was $30,116. About 2.4% of families and 3.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.8% of those under age 18 and 8.2% of those age 65 or over.

Trivia

In about 2000 , a local interest magazine interviewed a Leesburg resident, who recalled that his father and uncle had frequently reminisced about their wartime service--they had both participated in Pickett's Charge! It transpired that the resident was in his late 90's, and his father had been almost 60 when he was born.

External links

Towns in Virginia | Loudoun County, Virginia | Washington, D.C. suburbs | Cities on the Potomac River

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Geography

Demographics

Trivia

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