About two centuries old, Bluemont village lies at about 1000 feet, on the eastern side of the Blue Ridge, just below Snickers Gap in Western Loudoun County, Virginia. Bluemont borders Virginia foxhunt country and is within  a mile of the Appalachian Trail and the rugged Bears Den and Raven Rocks formations. The village is tucked into the side of the mountain, giving it a protected feeling. Fewer than 200 people live in the village proper, but the Bluemont zip code (20135), with about 1,500 households,  spans parts of two Virginia counties and a slice of West Virginia.
The settlement at Snickers Gap grew up to serve the traffic from the Shenandoah Valley to the markets in the east. George Washington rode through the Gap, crossing the Shenandoah River on Snickers’ Ferry.
In the Civil War, Loudoun was a border county, and western Loudoun was Mosby country. The area was hit hard by the crosscurrents of war.
When the railroad came to Bluemont in 1900, it ushered in a time of charming hotels, quaint boarding houses, fashionable visitors, and village prosperity. With the closing of the railroad, Bluemont fell back on summering families and the rural economy. Over the past few decades Bluemont has been increasingly settled by commuters and retirees, and has seen much restoration and remodeling of old homes and businesses. ...5-part article... |
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