Town Is Ready for Its Close-Up
Round Hill District Poised For National Historic Status

By Kafia A. Hosh
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, January 11, 2009

Round Hill is a sleepy rural town in western Loudoun County, but it once pulsated with life as a railroad community that had thriving tourism, mercantile and manufacturing industries. Its 25 years of commercial and residential growth began in December 1874, when the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad extended service from Hamilton to Round Hill.

Last month, the condition of the Round Hill Historic District -- about 96 acres consisting mostly of buildings from the late 19th century -- earned it a spot on the Virginia Landmarks Register, a list of sites and structures deemed important to the state's history. Now the district is nominated for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places, a designation it is likely to receive because of the state listing, town officials said.

The 200 or so buildings in the historic district are mostly residences. They include Victorian-style boarding houses once used by summer tourists, the railroad station and freight depot, four businesses, two manufacturing facilities, four churches and a small group of houses that made up the town's black community.

"All of the buildings in Round Hill work to tell you a complete story of the history of the town," said Maral Kalbian, an architectural historian who prepared the Virginia Landmarks Register nomination at the town government's request. "It's really worthy of recognition."

The Virginia Department of Historic Resources and the State Review Board evaluated the district in 2003 and determined that it was eligible for the nomination. In August 2007, the town received a $26,250 state grant that covered most of the cost of preparing the state and federal nominations, said Robert E. Kinsley Jr., Round Hill's town planner and zoning administrator.

The designation is honorary and imposes no architectural requirements on the buildings' owners, but state officials hope it will promote preservation. In a letter to Kinsley announcing the designation, Kathleen S. Kilpatrick, director of the Historic Resources Department and a state historic preservation officer, wrote: "While registration does not in itself protect the property, we hope this formal recognition will provide encouragement to your continuing efforts to preserve this important part of Virginia's history."

Kinsley said the designation makes building owners eligible for state tax credits if they wish to make improvements.

Many of the buildings were constructed by two prominent real estate developers, Barney Noland and Arch Simpson. Several still have the original roofs, windows and siding, Kalbian said. Many of the district's buildings are unique because they were constructed with stones native to the area, even though concrete, which was cheap and readily available, was a popular building material at the time, she said.

"There is an attachment to these traditional building practices maintained in the architecture," Kalbian said.

The buildings provide a glimpse of Round Hill's past as a bustling community. The tourism industry thrived because of the railroad service, which made travel more affordable. The largest of the many former boarding houses that hosted summer visitors from Washington is a 20-room building constructed in 1893 on West Loudoun Street.

Round Hill sits at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and "people came out here for relaxation and cooler temperatures," Kinsley said.

Having a train station sparked commercial growth, until rail service ended in the 1930s. Buildings housing shops, pharmacies and country stores sprang up around the station on Main Street. A flour mill near the railroad tracks created jobs, and goods were often distributed by train.

"Accessibility always spurs development," Kalbian said.

The houses owned by black residents were built on High and Bridge streets, near places of worship. Mount Zion Baptist Church, housed in a Gothic Revival-style building constructed around 1881 that mainly served the small black community of laborers and craftsmen in Round Hill, is still active.

Most of the district's buildings are in their original condition, thanks to continued use and upkeep, historians said.

Other historic buildings on Main Street include the home of Round Hill's primary physician, James Copeland, and the structure next door, which housed his medical practice on the second floor and the Citizens Bank of Round Hill on the first floor. The latter building still has the original set of barred metal doors and windows that protected the bank. It is now an antique store.

Round Hill Grocery on Main Street was built about 1900 and once housed a pharmacy, among other uses.

The Round Hill Town Hall operates out of what used to be Ford's Store, a building with ornate Victorian-style detailing that was built in 1872 and expanded in 1888.