Loudoun County, Virginia

Loudoun County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Leesburg
Year Organized: 1757
Square Miles: 520

Court House:

One Harrison Street, SE
County Courthouse
Leesburg, VA 20175-3102

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Loudoun is named for John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun, a colonial governor of Virginia.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Loudoun County, Virginia formed from Fairfax County. Later changes occurred from 1823-1824. [Virginia Counties: Those Resulting from Virginia Legislation, by Morgan Poitiaux Robinson, originally published as Bulletin of the Virginia State Library, Volume 9, January, April, July 1916, reprinted 1992 by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, MD.]

Loudoun County was named for John Campbell, fourth earl of Loudoun, who was commander of British forces in North America during the early portion of the French and Indian War and governor of Virginia from 1756 to 1759. It was formed from Fairfax County in 1757. Its area is 512 square miles, and the county seat is Leesburg.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Loudoun County has a total area of 521 square miles (1,350 km²), of which, 520 square miles (1,346 km²) of it is land and 1 square miles (3 km²) of it (0.24%) is water. It is bounded on the North by the Potomac River; across the river are Frederick and Montgomery Counties in Maryland; it is bounded on the south by Prince William and Fauquier Counties, on the west by watershed of the Blue Ridge Mountains across which are Jefferson County, West Virginia and Clarke County, and on the east by Fairfax County. The Bull Run Mountains and Catoctin Mountain bisect the county. To the west of the range is the Loudoun Valley. Bisecting the Loudoun Valley from Hillsboro to the Potomac River is Short Hill Mountain.

Neighboring Counties:

Fairfax County (east)
Prince William County (southeast)
Fauquier County (south)
Jefferson County, West Virginia (west)
Clarke County (west)
Washington County, Maryland (northwest, across the Potomac River)
Frederick County, Maryland (north, across the Potomac River)
Montgomery County, Maryland (northeast, across the Potomac River)

Cities and Towns:

- Fairfax	city	Incorporated Area
- Hamilton	town	Incorporated Area
- Hillsboro	town	Incorporated Area
- Leesburg (County Seat)	town	Incorporated Area
- Lovettsville	town	Incorporated Area
- Middleburg	town	Incorporated Area
- Purcellville	town	Incorporated Area
- Round Hill	town	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

Penn Foster High School

Custom Search