Waterford Foundation

Abigail Zurfluh

What is the National Historic Preservation Act?

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On October 15, 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Historic Preservation Act into law. In response to large public calls, this act was enacted to preserve historically and culturally significant sites across the United States. It sets the federal standards for historic preservation. Sixty years later, this law and the many important processes and aspects it enacted make up a foundation for how historic preservation works in the United States. In celebration of the 60th anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act, read on below to learn more about some of what this law enacted!

Secretary of Interior Standards:

The Secretary of Interior Standards are national standards for historic preservation projects established by the Secretary of Interior Standards, as directed by the National Historic Preservation Act. The standards are broken into four sections: preservation, rehabilitation, restoration, and reconstruction. These provide the standards that historic preservation projects and professionals follow across the country, including here in Waterford.

National Register for Historic Places and the National Historic Landmark Programs:

The National Historic Preservation Act establishes the National Register of Historic Places and the National Historic Landmark Programs. The National Register of Historic Places is a list of historic resources across the Country including buildings, sites, districts, structures, and objects. Properties listed on the National Register are able to receive help in preserving the historic resource, including tax credits for restorations following Secretary of Interior Standards. The National Historic Preservation Act also establishes the eligibility requirements for both of these programs. Both are run by the National Park Service under the Secretary of Interior. To learn more about the National Historic Landmark program, check out the Notes from the Preservation Desk from January linked here!

State Historic Preservation Officers:

The National Historic Preservation Act says that each state is to have a State Historic Preservation Officer appointed by the governor that leads the State’s historic preservation program including nominating historic resources to the National Register of Historic Places, implement a statewide historic preservation plan, administer federal assistance for historic preservation given to the state, be involved in leading the Section 106 process, advise and cooperate with federal and local governments and agencies on historic preservation processes in the state, and provide public education and technical assistance in historic preservation. In Virginia, the State Historic Preservation Office is the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

Historic Preservation Fund:

The Historic Preservation Fund is a grant program established to assist in funding historic preservation projects in the United States with the assistance of the State Historic Preservation Offices and National Park Service. Some of the Historic Preservation Fund grants at the federal level include Disaster Recovery Grants, Tribal Heritage Grants, Save America’s Treasures Grant, and African American Civil Rights Grants. 

Advisory Council on Historic Preservation:

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation is an independent federal agency that advises the President and Congress on matters relating to historic preservation. The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation also leads federal agencies in compliance with historic preservation programs. Council members are made up of members of the general public, historic preservation experts, a state governor, a mayor, member of an Indigenous tribe, federal agency heads, the Architect of the Capital, and ex-officio representatives of national historic preservation organizations. You can learn more about the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation here.

Federal Historic Preservation Departments:

Another requirement of the National Historic Preservation Act is that federal agencies have to establish a historic preservation program inside the agency to identify, evaluate, and help preserve historic resources in partnership with the Secretary of the Interior.

Section 106:

Section 106 is a historic resource identification and mitigation review process. It requires undertakings to slow down and identify historic resources in the project area, how they might adversely affect these resources, and with the parties familiar with the affected resources create a plan forward that carries out the needed undertaking and preserve historic resources for future generations. Section 106 is not about stopping construction or denying needed projects, but producing a mutually beneficial outcome. You can learn more about Section 106 and what is happening with the process at this link.

Sources and Where to Learn More:

10/15/2026: 60th Anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act & Section 106 Day

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10/15/2026

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act. In response to large public calls, this law was enacted to preserve historically and culturally significant sites across the United States- recognizing that historic resources define the distinctive heritage of communities and stories across the United States. Amongst the many important processes this act enacts is the Section 106 process. Section 106 is a historic resource identification and mitigation review process that is one of the backbones of historic preservation in the United States. It requires undertakings to slow down and identify historic resources in the project area, how they might adversely affect these resources, and with parties familiar with the affected resources create a plan forward that carries out the needed undertaking and preserves historic resources for future generations. The public also has the opportunity to share what these resources mean to them, and be involved in the process of preserving them. Section 106 is not about stopping construction or denying needed projects, but producing a mutually beneficial outcome. In many cases demonstrated over the past 60 years, the Section 106 process creates a better and more supported undertaking that moves forward. In short, it quite literally gives historic resources a place at the table.

Currently, there are proposed changes to Section 106 that would be damaging to the process and its success, damaging to public and stakeholder involvement in the long-term preservation of historic resources in their communities, and inconsistent with historic preservation best practices and the National Historic Preservation Act itself. Historic resources are a non-renewable resource: once they are affected, or even worse once they are gone, it can never be undone. The purpose of the Section 106 process is to bring an undertaking’s leadership, preservation professionals, local stakeholders, and community members together to move an undertaking forward that meets its goals and preserves historic resources for future generations. If enacted, the proposed changes to the Section 106 process would negatively impact its success in preserving resources and undertaking’s success, damage how the public and other stakeholders can get involved in the preservation process in their communities, and could potentially impact the long-term preservation of the Waterford National Historic Landmark and historic resources across Loudoun County.

The Waterford Foundation is proud to stand in support with our fellow historic preservation organizations across Loudoun County and beyond in sharing about how Section 106 works and its importance, and helping to protect this process that has done much to preserve the resources around all of us. We thank the National Trust for Historic Preservation in leading us all in the work to protect this integral tool to historic preservation in the United States. To learn more about Section 106 and its importance, proposed changes to the process, and how to get involved- please check out the links below. When more news and actions are to be shared, the Waterford Foundation will share news on our website, newsletter, and social media.

Links to learn more:

Experience the Maranda Project This Year at the Fair!

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What would you expect to find if you went into a thrift store in California? Maybe some clothes, salt and pepper shakers, boots, or maybe some furniture? If you were Margarete Miller- a collage artist, podcaster, and author- looking for collage material, what you would find would be an 1860 friendship album all the way from Waterford, VA! This friendship album belonged to Maranda Stewart, and is coming home to Waterford to be donated to the archives. This incredible journey back home to Waterford is called the Maranda Project, and you can be a part of it too this year at the Fair! Below, learn more about this story and how you can be involved this year during the Waterford Fair:

The Find

First off, what is a friendship album? A friendship album is a book commonly used like the back of a yearbook today- where friends and family would sign notes, names, drawings, and even poems for the person who owned it. This friendship album belonged to Maranda Stewart, who started her album during the Civil War here in Waterford and continued it through 1885. 

The album found its way across the country to a thrift store Savers store in California, where it was found by a collage artist Margarete Miller. She researched the album, and invited the public to be a part of the story- from talking about her research to inviting people to mail in their addition to a friendship album much like Maranda’s. Margarete is going to be here during the Fair this year to donate the friendship album to the archives (to be on display this year at the Fair!) along with a companion album! You can learn more about Margarete’s on her blog linked here.

How You Can Experience the Maranda Project:

This year at the Waterford Fair (October 2-4), make sure to drop by the Craft School tent on the Old School lawn for all things Maranda Project!:

  • The Friendship Album will be on display for you to see (weather permitting)!
  • Kids (and kids at heart)- make your own friendship album to take around the Fair and back home with you!
  • On Saturday at 12:30pm, Margarete Miller will be at the Craft School tent giving a tent talk about the Marnada Project! Hear the story about this incredible discovery from her! Tent talks are included in your fair ticket, but make sure to book in advance to reserve your spot! 

To learn more about the Waterford Fair and to purchase your tickets, check out the Fair website linked here. We hope to see you there!

Learn more about the 82nd waterford Fair & get your tickets today!

“Great Trees from Little Acorns Grow”: The Waterford Fair & Preservation

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September brings the arrival of fall and with fall comes changing colors, cooler temperatures and a (hopeful) break in humidity, and most importantly here in Waterford- the Waterford Fair! The Waterford Fair is the mid-Atlantic’s quintessential fall festival with demonstrating fine heritage & contemporary craft artisans, living historians, a juried art show, historic properties tour, local libations, and entertainment for all ages. We can’t wait to welcome everyone to Waterford for the 82nd Waterford Fair on October 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. 

The story of the Waterford Fair starts with the beginning of the Waterford Foundation in 1943. Polly Rogers, a founding member and board member of the Waterford Foundation, recounts the story of the first Fair, or the “Waterford Exhibit”, in a letter to George Bently in 1975 found in the Waterford Foundation Archives. One of the first actions of the newly formed Waterford Foundation was to purchase the Waterford Mill, which ceased in operation four years prior. Then began a discussion about the next use of the Mill with many options from restoring the mill to operation to a restaurant. But Mr. McDaniel came up with the idea of “making it a craft community where residents of the community could bring their wares once a year to be sold…” (Rogers, 1975).

The suggestion came to host a craft exhibit to see what the interest would be in a crafting exhibit. From the writings of Polly Rogers, “This first Exhibit was held in the living and dining room of the Meeting House. The entries were…many quilts hung the walls- some hooked rugs – hooked chair seats – hot pads… are some of the things I remember. / The weather was perfect- we sold $90.00 worth of merchandise and 500 people signed the guest register. Everyone was ecstatic! Even I was carried away with the success and interest that had been shown and felt along with Allen {McDaniel} and Mary {Stabler} that this might be the means of getting more income for bigger and better things… “Great trees from little acorns grow”.” (Rogers, 1975). The exhibit grew with craft classes and exhibits, homes tours, and more to the Fair we know today!

Since the beginning and continuing now, the preservation and education missions of the Foundation and the Fair are intrinsically linked. 86% of funds from the Fair go directly into the preservation work of the Foundation in the National Historic Landmark of Waterford, and education programs including the Second Street School program and field trips for middle and high school students, and adult programming.

We look forward to having everyone in the Village back at the Fair for the 82nd time! To learn more about the Waterford Fair and to get your tickets, check out the Fair website here.

August 14, 2026 | Statement Submitted to Valley North Transmission Project

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August 14, 2026

To whom it may concern,

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Waterford Foundation, we are writing to express our opposition to the currently proposed routes for the Valley North Project because of their potential for long-lasting adverse impacts on the historic and heritage resources, environmental resources, agricultural landscapes, and agritourism areas of rural Loudoun County.

The Waterford Foundation’s mission is rooted in the preservation and stewardship of historic places, landscapes, and the cultural heritage they embody. Rural Loudoun contains an extraordinary concentration of historic districts, buildings, archaeological resources, cemeteries, agricultural landscapes, conservation lands, and other resources that together define the distinctive historic character of the county and contribute to the quality of life of current and future residents.

The currently proposed routes raise significant concerns regarding impacts to resources including cemeteries, historic buildings and districts, Catoctin Creek, conservation areas, agricultural lands, and properties protected by conservation and preservation easements. Adverse effects to these resources could have lasting consequences not only for the individual resources themselves, but also for broader preservation and conservation efforts throughout Loudoun County.

The potential effects of major transmission infrastructure extend beyond direct physical disturbance. Route selection must also carefully consider impacts to historic settings and viewsheds, landscape integrity, agricultural uses, community character, archaeological resources, and the relationships among historic resources that make rural Loudoun’s cultural landscape meaningful.

Historic, archaeological, and environmental resources are non-renewable. Once they are lost or significantly altered, they cannot be recreated. For this reason, avoidance of significant historic, cultural, environmental, and agricultural resources should be incorporated early and meaningfully into route selection, rather than addressed only after preferred routes have been identified.

As Loudoun County and communities across the nation commemorate the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, the importance of protecting the historic places and landscapes that connect us to our shared history is especially clear. Loudoun’s nationally, state, and locally recognized historic resources, historic districts, conservation lands, and protected landscapes represent generations of stewardship and a substantial public investment in preservation.

The Waterford Foundation therefore opposes the currently proposed Valley North Project routes that threaten these resources and strongly urges Valley Link Transmission to identify alternatives that avoid or substantially minimize impacts to significant historic, cultural, environmental, agricultural, and conservation resources.

We support a transparent planning process that fully considers preservation, conservation, community, and environmental impacts alongside the region’s infrastructure needs, and we urge Valley Link Transmission to work closely with Loudoun County, preservation and conservation organizations, affected communities, landowners, and appropriate state and federal agencies as alternative routes are evaluated.

The Waterford Foundation stands with organizations and communities throughout Loudoun County working to ensure that the county’s historic, cultural, agricultural, and environmental heritage is protected for present and future generations.

Sincerly,

Waterford Foundation Board of Directors

Education & Preservation: The Second Street School

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Blooming in the heat of the August sun is a brand new school year! Later this month, Loudoun County Public Schools will be back in session for another great school year, and all over the County kids, teachers, administrators, parents, and more are getting ready for the school year to start. This bubbling of excitement for learning is a great time to reflect on the interconnectedness of education and preservation. One cannot happen without the other: the past and history cannot be effectively shared without preservation, and you can’t effectively preserve historic resources without understanding and sharing the history and importance behind it.

The interconnectedness of historic preservation and education is reflected in the definition of historic preservation shared earlier in this series:  the identification, interpretation, care of, and protection of historic artifacts and objects, sites, buildings and structures, landscapes, and districts. Many of the areas where preservationists specialize in can focus on the educational part of the definition, including museums, archives, interpretation, and public history. Whatever specialty a preservationist leans into, they are trained in the documentation, identification, and interpretation of historic resources- including preservationists here in Waterford. The Waterford Foundation mission statement itself perfectly captures the importance of education in historic preservation and environmental conservation: “To preserve the historic buildings and open spaces of the National Historic Landmark of Waterford, Virginia, and, through education, to increase the public’s knowledge of life and work in an early American rural community.” 

One of the best examples of the interlinking of preservation and education in practice in Waterford is the Second Street School Program. The Second Street School is the one room African American schoolhouse located on the corner of Second and Janney Streets. In 1866, Black school trustees purchased the property for school and church purposes. Using funds supplemented by the Freedmen’s Bureau and Philadelphia Quakers, the community promptly built a schoolhouse that also served as a place of worship that opened three years before the establishment of Loudoun County Public Schools. In 1870 when Loudoun County Public Schools was established, the school became Colored School A. Colored School A- always a one room schoolhouse- closed in 1957; students were then bused into Leesburg to the Douglas School.

Since 1984, the Second Street School program has invited elementary school students from all over Loudoun County and Northern Virginia to learn about what life would have been like for students attending the segregated school house in 1880, and largely of life during the Reconstruction Era. This is done through hands-on activities and lessons led by a docent at the Second Street School, which is interpreted to look as much like the 1880s as is known. Before coming to the school, teachers are provided with biographies of students who attended the School in 1880. Students are able to learn about these students, and how historians research people and places of the past. 

How does the program work? Once registered, teachers will be provided with orientation materials, a pre-lesson about Waterford, and historic information about the Second Street School, including biographies about the students who attended in 1880. On the day of, students are welcomed to Waterford with a bus tour of the Village where houses of those who were studied and important places in Reconstruction Waterford are pointed out. When settled into the Second Street School, lessons like what would have been taught in the school in 1880 including reading, spelling, ciphering, math, and quill pen writing. Recess is held at the school with period toys, and the day is finished with questions and answers time where the students have the opportunity to ask the Waterford docent about life in Waterford and Colored School A, and the Reconstruction Era. The Second Street School program is held every spring, and booking opens in August for the following season. Educational offerings have expanded with options diving into the Reconstruction Era in Waterford and Loudoun County, and the African American history of Waterford with programs for middle and high school students.

One of the best parts of the year is when students come to explore Waterford, and the excitement it brings to everyone involved! Every year students always ask amazing questions that get us adults thinking about history in different ways, and it’s a thrill to watch students get excited about history and the world around them. As preparations are happening for another great year of school programs, everyone at the Foundation wishes everyone a great school year!

Commemorations & Colonial Revival

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This Fourth of July, people across the country are going to be firing up the grill, listening to fife and drums, singing “Yankee Doodle”, watching fireworks, and gathering to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. For the next eight years through the 250th anniversary of the Treaty of Paris (the treaty signed on September 3, 1783 that marked the end of the American Revolution), the semi-quincentennial commemoration of the American Revolution will be marked around the country with different events, anniversaries, artwork, and more. These commemorations have historically brought the people, stories, and styles of the Revolution and Colonial era back to the forefront; and doing so has created new architectural styles and preservation movements.

Possibly one of the most popular architectural styles in the United States is Colonial Revival. It’s a style that incorporates elements that you could, or would expect to, find in Colonial era architecture. In Virginia, that can mean symmetry, bricks and board and batten, pilasters and columns, and transoms and accents over the doors. You can find it in private homes, commercial structures, and even institutional buildings. While it is still widely used today, this style harkens back to the Colonial Revival movement’s large popularity between 1880 and the 1950s that spread past architecture into art, design, and more.

The beginning of the Colonial Revival movement can largely be traced back to a commemoration like the one we are heading into now- the Philadelphia Centennial of 1876, which commemorated the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It sparked an interest in history and a romanticization of the colonial and Revolutionary time period, especially as much of the nation was still reconstructing from the American Civil War that ended in 1865. Colonial elements, events, figures like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, and styles started to find their way into popular art and media, combining with other styles of the day. The Colonial Revival movement was further bolstered by the Columbian Exposition of 1893, or the World’s Fair, held in Chicago. It marked the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s first voyage to the Americas. Amongst the neoclassical and Beaux Arts structures built in the fairgrounds, fair goers could find recreations of some of the landmarks of the American Revolution that various states decided would represent them. For example, the Pennsylvania building was a recreation of Independence Hall, and the Virginia building was a recreation of Mount Vernon. Taking inspiration from the Columbian Exposition, Colonial Revival would combine with other prevalent architectural styles like Queen Anne, neo-classical, and Shingle, floor plans, and building techniques and technologies. These buildings would take inspiration from the romanticized version of Colonial architecture and buildings (examples being accentuating the front entry with pediments, sidelights, and transoms), and bring in elements from other architecture styles and more modern needs liked curved walls, larger panes of glass in windows, gingerbreading and intricate wood detailing, and further into the style- garages.

Drawing of the Waterford Mill from the 1946 Fair Booklet identifying the Mill as “The Old Mill- 1733- Waterford VA” (WF Archives)

Colonial Revival would also inspire many historic preservation and history movements of the timeframe. Maybe one of the largest examples of this in Virginia is Colonial Williamsburg, which opened their first exhibition building- the reconstructed Raleigh Tavern- in 1932. Early preservationists in Waterford and the Waterford Foundation (founded in 1943) would take inspiration from the Colonial Revival movement and Colonial Williamsburg as well in their early efforts to preserve and restore the Village of Waterford. An example of this can be found in early restoration efforts of the Waterford Mill after the Foundation purchased the building in 1944.

The Colonial Revival style of architecture continues to be a prevalent style across the United States. As we enter the Commemoration of the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution, it will be interesting to see what this returned focus on the American Revolution and the Colonial Era will inspire in art, design, and architecture.

Sources:

  • Chicago Architecture Center. (n.d.) “World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893”. Chicago Architecture Center. https://www.architecture.org/online-resources/architecture-encyclopedia/worlds-columbian-exposition-of-1893
  • Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. (n.d.) “History of Colonial Williamsburg”. Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/about/history-of-colonial-williamsburg/
  • Gyure, Dale Allen, Ph.D. (n.d.) “The Colonial Revival: A Review of Literature”. University of Virginia Library. https://colonialrevival.lib.virginia.edu/
  • McAlester, Virginia Savage. 2019. “A Field Guide to American Houses: The Definitive Guide to Identifying and Understanding America’s Domestic Architecture”. Alfred A. Knope, New York
  • National Park Service, George Washington Birthplace National Monument. (n.d.). “The Colonial Revival Movement at George Washington Birthplace”. National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/sparking-a-movement.htm
  • National Park Service, Golden Gate National Recreation Area. (n.d.). “Colonial Revival Style 1880s-1940s”. National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/articles/colonial-revival-architecture.htm?utm_source=article&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=experience_more&utm_content=small
  • Theobald, Mary Miley. (n.d.) “The Colonial Revival, The Past That Never Dies”. Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. https://research.colonialwilliamsburg.org/Foundation/journal/Summer02/revival.cfm

How the Civil War Divided Waterford

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Written by Debbie Robison; Edited by Larisa Epatko

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Although Quakers were the original settlers of Waterford, Virginia, and maintained a significant presence, by the start of the Civil War in 1861, the town was home to a diverse population of tradesmen, farmers and laborers. While the Society of Friends held firm to pacifism and opposition to slavery, many of their neighbors were deeply integrated into Virginia’s traditional social order and viewed secession as a necessary defense of their state.

In May 1861, the divide within Waterford became official during a statewide referendum needed to ratify Virginia’s Ordinance of Secession, marking the state’s decision to separate from the United States. The Waterford precinct saw a sharp split in the referendum with local Quakers voting against it. Although Unionist sentiment was strong, a vocal and active minority of residents supported the Southern cause, creating an environment of local tension that persisted throughout the war.

The emergence of the Loudoun Rangers
Samuel C. Means (WF Archives)

This internal division was most vividly illustrated by the military units that drew from the local population. The town became a primary recruiting ground for the Loudoun Rangers, which was the only organized Union unit from the state of Virginia. Led by local miller Samuel C. Means, the Rangers calvary unit was composed of men who felt their primary loyalty belonged to the federal government.

At the same time, other men from the Waterford area, who were often the neighbors or former associates of the Rangers, joined Confederate units like the 35th Battalion of Virginia Cavalry,
famously known as “White’s Comanches.” Led by Elijah V. White, who lived just a few miles away, these soldiers were equally determined to defend their vision of Virginia.

Battle at the Baptist Church

The skirmish at the Waterford Baptist Church on August 27, 1862, was a direct result of these clashing loyalties. There, a group of Loudoun Rangers suffered a surprise attack at its encampment by White’s Comanches.

The Rangers used the church’s brick walls for cover, firing from the windows while the Confederates charged through the streets. The engagement ended in a Confederate victory. The physical and psychic toll on the town was immense. The sight of soldiers bleeding in the shadows of the church and the mill served as a visceral reminder of the deep fracture within the county.

The tactical importance of Walker’s Hill

To the southwest of the town center lies Walker’s Hill, a high point of land that became a critical tactical position for both armies during the war. Because of its elevation, the hill provided a commanding view of the town and the surrounding roads, making it a natural location for pickets and scouts.

In August 1863, almost exactly a year after the fight at the Baptist Church, the hill became the site of another fierce encounter. A detachment of the Loudoun Rangers, operating under Captain Daniel M. Keyes, was positioned on the hill when they were attacked by their Confederate counterparts, White’s Comanches.

The fighting was desperate and underscored the “no-quarter” nature of this localized war. During the melee, the Confederates suffered significant local losses, including the deaths of Captain Richard B. Grubb and his cousin John C. Grubb, both of whom were well-known members of the surrounding community.

Life in a contested town

Because of its location and its divided heart, Waterford spent much of the war under “contested” status, where control shifted frequently. A Union patrol might be welcomed in the morning, only to have a Confederate detachment arrive by evening to arrest “disloyal” citizens or seize supplies.

For the residents, this meant a life of constant vigilance. Families with Confederate sympathies had to hide their support when Union troops occupied the town, and Unionists lived in fear of being sent to Castle Thunder, the notorious Confederate prison in Richmond, when Southern forces held the area.

The war’s end and the long recovery

The end of the war in 1865 brought a cessation of combat, but the internal divisions of Waterford took time to heal. The community had to find a way to function again with former Rangers and former Confederates living side by side.

Today, Waterford is preserved as a National Historic Landmark. Its architecture remains as a silent witness to a time when the village was a microcosm of a nation at war with itself, a place where competing definitions of loyalty lived door to door.

Debbie Robison writes about Northern Virginia history. You can read more of her articles on her website.

Want to learn more about Waterford history and the Civil War? Check out further articles below!