Mosby Heritage Area Association
Encyclopedia
The Mosby Heritage Area Association was founded in 1995 in Middleburg, Virginia
, as a membership-driven 501(c) 3 nonprofit preservation and historic organization. MHAA's mission is to educate about, and advocate for, the preservation of the extraordinary historic, cultural and scenic resources in the Northern Virginia Piedmont
.
Although MHAA is interested in the complete history of the area, it is named for the famed Confederate Cavalry officer John S. Mosby
, whose rangers fought throughout the region during the American Civil War
. As a history-oriented organization MHAA is focused on the complete history of the area, although the Civil War always will be an crucial part of the area's past, since so much of the war took place in Virginia. The Mosby Heritage Area was hit hard by the war, and an important part of the Association's mission is to study and teach its history, not to romanticize it. The Association's annual Civil War Conference, held each October, brings the nation's top scholars in the field for a weekend of lectures and field trips.
When the Civil War ended, John Mosby accepted defeat and befriended President Ulysses S. Grant
. Mosby went to work for the Grant Administration as a lawyer in the Interior
and Justice
Departments. Later, he served as Consul to Hong Kong
under Presidents Hayes
, Garfield, and Arthur
. Back in the U.S., Mosby went to work for President Theodore Roosevelt
as an assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice.
The Mosby Heritage Area is located about one hour's drive west of Washington, D.C.
, and is bound by the Bull Run Mountains
to the east, the Blue Ridge Mountains
to the west, the Potomac River
to the north and the Rappahannock River
to the south. It encompasses the Virginia counties of Loudoun
, Fauquier
, Clarke
, Warren
and part of Prince William
, some 1800 square miles (4,662 km²). This unique area of the country consists of gently rolling hills, cool deciduous forests, lively winding creeks and broad rambling rivers. Accented by stunning vistas and an abundance of open space, the region is crisscrossed by scenic byways and historic thoroughfares once used by Native Americans, early settlers and soldiers.
Portions of Evergreen Mill Road in Leesburg
, in the heart of the Heritage Area, were once part of the historic Old Carolina Road, one of the most-used Colonial roadways in Virginia. That road originally functioned as a north-south migration route for Native Americans
, who also followed the buffalo along what is now U.S. Route 50
(John S. Mosby Highway). Route 50 and Braddock Road in Colonial times were the main east-west corridors linking the port city of Alexandria to Winchester.
During the Civil War the area was known as Mosby's Confederacy. The charismatic Mosby and his regiment of partisans
were known for their daring raids behind Union
lines, and for ambushing Union supply depots, transport lines, and troops.
MHAA has its offices in the historic Caleb Rector House at Atoka, Virginia, four miles (6 km) west of Middleburg. It was in this house that Col. Mosby signed the documents on June 10, 1863, officially organizing his Civil War Rangers into Company A of the 43rd Battalion of the Virginia Cavalry. The house is now owned by the Atoka Preservation Society.
The Mosby Heritage Area retains much of the landscape and many of the original historical landmarks from the past three centuries and provides a rich and rewarding environment for residents and visitors alike. The organization's mission is to preserve that rich legacy for future generations.
The MHAA is governed by an all-volunteer Board of Directors and Advisory Board and has a paid executive director and education director. Many volunteers work on the organization's many programs and services, which are designed to inspire area residents and visitors of all ages about the region's historic and scenic resources, encouraging them to support our preservation goals.
Middleburg, Virginia
Middleburg is a town in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States with a population of approximately 976 as of July 2010.-History:The town was established in 1787 by American Revolutionary War Lieutenant Colonel and Virginia statesman, Levin Powell. He purchased the land for Middleburg at $2.50 per...
, as a membership-driven 501(c) 3 nonprofit preservation and historic organization. MHAA's mission is to educate about, and advocate for, the preservation of the extraordinary historic, cultural and scenic resources in the Northern Virginia Piedmont
Piedmont (United States)
The Piedmont is a plateau region located in the eastern United States between the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the main Appalachian Mountains, stretching from New Jersey in the north to central Alabama in the south. The Piedmont province is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division...
.
Although MHAA is interested in the complete history of the area, it is named for the famed Confederate Cavalry officer John S. Mosby
John S. Mosby
John Singleton Mosby , nicknamed the "Gray Ghost", was a Confederate cavalry battalion commander in the American Civil War...
, whose rangers fought throughout the region during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. As a history-oriented organization MHAA is focused on the complete history of the area, although the Civil War always will be an crucial part of the area's past, since so much of the war took place in Virginia. The Mosby Heritage Area was hit hard by the war, and an important part of the Association's mission is to study and teach its history, not to romanticize it. The Association's annual Civil War Conference, held each October, brings the nation's top scholars in the field for a weekend of lectures and field trips.
When the Civil War ended, John Mosby accepted defeat and befriended President Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
. Mosby went to work for the Grant Administration as a lawyer in the Interior
United States Department of the Interior
The United States Department of the Interior is the United States federal executive department of the U.S. government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and natural resources, and the administration of programs relating to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native...
and Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
Departments. Later, he served as Consul to Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
under Presidents Hayes
Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford Birchard Hayes was the 19th President of the United States . As president, he oversaw the end of Reconstruction and the United States' entry into the Second Industrial Revolution...
, Garfield, and Arthur
Chester A. Arthur
Chester Alan Arthur was the 21st President of the United States . Becoming President after the assassination of President James A. Garfield, Arthur struggled to overcome suspicions of his beginnings as a politician from the New York City Republican machine, succeeding at that task by embracing...
. Back in the U.S., Mosby went to work for President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
as an assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice.
The Mosby Heritage Area is located about one hour's drive west of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, and is bound by the Bull Run Mountains
Bull Run Mountains
The Bull Run Mountains are a mountain range of the Blue Ridge Mountains in northern Virginia in the United States. Located approximately east of the main chain, across the Loudoun Valley...
to the east, the Blue Ridge Mountains
Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southern-most...
to the west, the Potomac River
Potomac River
The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
to the north and the Rappahannock River
Rappahannock River
The Rappahannock River is a river in eastern Virginia, in the United States, approximately in length. It traverses the entire northern part of the state, from the Blue Ridge Mountains in the west, across the Piedmont, to the Chesapeake Bay, south of the Potomac River.An important river in American...
to the south. It encompasses the Virginia counties of Loudoun
Loudoun County, Virginia
Loudoun County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and is part of the Washington Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the county is estimated to be home to 312,311 people, an 84 percent increase over the 2000 figure of 169,599. That increase makes the county the fourth...
, Fauquier
Fauquier County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 55,139 people, 19,842 households, and 15,139 families residing in the county. The population density was 85 people per square mile . There were 21,046 housing units at an average density of 32 per square mile...
, Clarke
Clarke County, Virginia
Clarke County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the population was 14,034. Its county seat is Berryville.-History:Clarke County was established in 1836 by Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron who built a home, Greenway Court, on part of his 5 million acre property,...
, Warren
Warren County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 31,584 people, 12,087 households, and 8,521 families residing in the county. The population density was 148 people per square mile . There were 13,299 housing units at an average density of 62 per square mile...
and part of Prince William
Prince William County, Virginia
-National protected areas:* Featherstone National Wildlife Refuge* Manassas National Battlefield Park* Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge* Prince William Forest Park-Government and politics:...
, some 1800 square miles (4,662 km²). This unique area of the country consists of gently rolling hills, cool deciduous forests, lively winding creeks and broad rambling rivers. Accented by stunning vistas and an abundance of open space, the region is crisscrossed by scenic byways and historic thoroughfares once used by Native Americans, early settlers and soldiers.
Portions of Evergreen Mill Road in Leesburg
Leesburg, Virginia
Leesburg is a historic town in, and county seat of, Loudoun County, Virginia, United States of America. Leesburg is located west-northwest of Washington, D.C. along the base of the Catoctin Mountain and adjacent to the Potomac River. Its population according the 2010 Census is 42,616...
, in the heart of the Heritage Area, were once part of the historic Old Carolina Road, one of the most-used Colonial roadways in Virginia. That road originally functioned as a north-south migration route for Native Americans
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
, who also followed the buffalo along what is now U.S. Route 50
U.S. Route 50
U.S. Route 50 is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching just over from Ocean City, Maryland on the Atlantic Ocean to West Sacramento, California. Until 1972, when it was replaced by Interstate Highways west of the Sacramento area, it extended to San Francisco, near...
(John S. Mosby Highway). Route 50 and Braddock Road in Colonial times were the main east-west corridors linking the port city of Alexandria to Winchester.
During the Civil War the area was known as Mosby's Confederacy. The charismatic Mosby and his regiment of partisans
Partisan (military)
A partisan is a member of an irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation by some kind of insurgent activity...
were known for their daring raids behind Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
lines, and for ambushing Union supply depots, transport lines, and troops.
MHAA has its offices in the historic Caleb Rector House at Atoka, Virginia, four miles (6 km) west of Middleburg. It was in this house that Col. Mosby signed the documents on June 10, 1863, officially organizing his Civil War Rangers into Company A of the 43rd Battalion of the Virginia Cavalry. The house is now owned by the Atoka Preservation Society.
The Mosby Heritage Area retains much of the landscape and many of the original historical landmarks from the past three centuries and provides a rich and rewarding environment for residents and visitors alike. The organization's mission is to preserve that rich legacy for future generations.
The MHAA is governed by an all-volunteer Board of Directors and Advisory Board and has a paid executive director and education director. Many volunteers work on the organization's many programs and services, which are designed to inspire area residents and visitors of all ages about the region's historic and scenic resources, encouraging them to support our preservation goals.
MHAA programs
Programs offered by the Association include:- Mosby, Heritage, and You: A Classroom Program for 4th Grade Virginia Studies,” an interactive classroom program provided free of charge to local public and private schools.
- Cavaliers, Courage, and Coffee: Mosby Owned the Night, monthly on-site programs presented by MHAA's all-volunteer Gray Ghost Interpretive Group a two-hour family program by lantern-light exploring nooks and crannies of the little Civil War village of Atoka.
- Civic Group Programs, providing speakers to local civic groups on the state of preservation in the Area.
- The annual Civil War Conference, held each October at the Middleburg Community Center, in which national experts offer two days of seminars and field trips.
- "Profiting From Preservation: The Economic Benefits of Historic Preservation in the Mosby Heritage Area," a report that shows the impact of historic preservation on the area's economy and establishes that preservation in its various aspects generates a positive return to entrepreneurs, local governments and all the citizens of the region.
- Mosby Descendants Reunion, held in 2008 and 2009, which brought together descendants of Mosby's Rangers, and included presentations by the MHAA Gray Ghost Interpretive Group and Civil War music by the Tuscarora Brass Band. MHAA collected information brought by descendants about their Ranger ancestors, including photographs, documents, newspaper clippings, which were scanned, with copies given to local libraries and the Manassas Museum.
- Saturday Morning Specials, held four times per year, in which the Education Director leads groups on localized tours of the area's historic towns, villages, battle sites and other areas of historic significance.
- Written and recorded walking and driving tours of historic sites in the area available from the Mosby Heritage Area Association's office in Atoka, and on line at the MHAA web site.
External links
- Mosby Heritage Area Association Website
- Podcast and RSS feed of July 16, 2009, talk by Cokie Roberts sponsored by Mosby Heritage Area Association at historic Oak Hill (James Monroe's home outside Leesburg, Virginia) on Shenandoah Valley Radio
- Mosby Heritage Area Association Facebook page
- Middleburg Eccentric article on Cokie Roberts talk at Oak Hill
- Loudoun Independent article on Cokie Roberts talk