About the Foundation
Founded in 1943, the Waterford Foundation is one of America’s
first community-based historic preservation organizations. Our
mission is to preserve the historic buildings and open spaces of
the National Historic Landmark District of Waterford, Virginia;
and through education, to increase the public’s knowledge
of life and work in an early American rural community. Through
the efforts of the Foundation and its members, the village and
its surrounding open space were designated a National Historic
Landmark District in 1970.
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Aerial
view of Waterford showing land easements |
Besides renovating and maintaining the
historic structures and open spaces it owns, The Foundation sponsors
numerous educational programs, including the Second
Street School Living History Program which since its establishment in 1984 has
allowed almost 30,000 fourth-grade students to reenact a day in
the life of an African-American student in a nineteenth century
one-room school house; the Waterford
Concert Series which presents
five concerts of classical music annually; and the George
Bentley Lecture Series with talks by nationally known authors.
The Waterford Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Waterford is a National Historic Landmark
In 1970, the Secretary
of the Interior determined that the Waterford Historic District
possessed national significance and designated it a National Historic
Landmark. It is the highest designation of historic significance
possible in the U.S., and places it on par with Mt. Vernon and
Monticello—a rare honor.
The determination was based on what the Secretary perceived as
an extraordinary balance between the buildings of an intact historic
agrarian village and the unspoiled agricultural setting that surrounds
it. Waterford is also rare in that it is still a living community.
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