We have had a busy year this year in the 1,420 acre National Historic Landmark of Waterford! Our staff, board, committees, and volunteers have been hard at work to preserve the historic buildings and open spaces of Waterford, and to educate the public about Waterford history, craft, and life in an early American rural village. Before we leap into 2025, let’s take a look back at the highlights of this year in preservation, education, and public programming (oh my!) below:
In May, when the Waterford National Historic Landmark was announced to be one of Virginia’s Most Endangered Historic Places by Preservation Virginia; we said that endangered doesn’t mean the end, it means that there is a community ready and willing to put in the work to save it. That statement was truly proven this year. We would be remised if when talking about what happened this year in preservation without mentioning the Loudoun Transmission Line Alliance first. Starting at the beginning of the year, we at the Waterford Foundation joined together with other environmental conservation and historic preservation organizations, community groups, business representatives, and more to advocate for the 500kv transmission lines proposed to go through rural Loudoun, including inside the Waterford National Historic Landmark, be moved into the existing rights-of-way. After many long hours, community meetings, signs distributed, signatures collections, conversations with the powers to be, and so much more- PJM Interconnection’s Board of Directors approved a change in scope for the 2022 RTEP W3 plan that avoids construction of a new greenfield power transmission line through western Loudoun County by instead making use of existing rights-of-way. The Waterford Foundation continues to be associated with the Loudoun Transmission Line Alliance as the group advocates for the best ways to intersect the community, local businesses, historic preservation and environmental conservation, and power infrastructure.
It was a busy year out on the Phillips Farm as well. There were two sprayings for poison hemlock, and by the end of the summer there were no new growth observed for the first time! While this could be due to a multitude of reasons outside of our control, it is definitely a sign we are in the right direction in the treatment of this invasive species. Mile-a-minute vine and autumn olive (two other invasive species) were pulled by volunteers in two cleanup days in the spring led by members of the Open Spaces Subcommittee. More work will be done on managing invasive species in 2025. In partnership with the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, a new stream monitoring site was added along Bull’s Run. Finally, we started to research ways to better support the Phillips Farm Trail Network’s growing popularity, and a public survey was put out during the summer months. We can’t wait to hit the trails in 2025!
Finally, our preservation work this year was spread all over Waterford. In June, the Second Street School got some needed TLC on the exterior with new paint and wood repairs. The building is definitely ready to welcome a whole new set of fourth graders in the spring! After the large storms that passed through Waterford in July wreaked some havoc, volunteers as young as six came out to help at our Post-Storm Cleanup (with popsicles)! Our storm cleanup had volunteers go around the entire village- including the Phillips Farm trail, Old School, Bond Street Meadow, Second Street School, and the Village Green. The Foundation was awarded the Community Blue Ribbon Award by the Loudoun Joint Architectural Review Board and the Signatures of Loudoun: Design Excellence Award for Historic Renovations by Loudoun County for the Waterford Mill Project. The Mill Planning Ad-Hoc Committee called together by the Board continued to meet this year (and will continue into 2025) to lay out the best plan for the next life of the Waterford Mill. On the topic of planning, in late 2024 planning kicked off for the John Wesley Community Church Restoration Project. We hope that the project will be completed by the end of the year in 2026.
Our education team also had a busy year this year! First off, our education committee hosted five programs in the 2024 Lyceum Series: a talk on how to research your home and family presented by our very own Historic Preservation Director Abigail Zurfluh and Thomas Balch’s Anna Carneal and Laura Christiansen, a book by Waterford historian Taylor Chamberlain on his new book My Old Carpetbagger which uses the story of his great-grandparents to reveal new aspects of Virginia and national history, an interactive talk and family friendly activities in partnership with the Loudoun Heritage Farm Museum and Loudoun250 Commission on Colonial-period agriculture, and a panel discussion of the “Real” Arthur Godfrey Story: as Told by His Family. Our final lyceum program took a trip into Leesburg, with Historic Preservation Director Abigail Zurfluh giving an overview of Waterford History through the Oden Map at the Rust Library in Leesburg. We can’t wait to see what incredible programs are going to be planned for 2025! Talented docents led groups around Waterford on a quarterly basis for a walking tour, and we can’t wait to welcome people back for a tour. Two new exhibits were unveiled at this year’s Fair: the reworking of the African American Experience of Waterford, and Waterford Then and Now. We can’t wait to build on this momentum for next year!
The Second Street School Program celebrated forty years this year with an impressive number of over 600 fourth grade participants in the primary program! We introduced three new field trip programs during the 2023-2024 school year for middle and high school students to come out and explore Waterford and learn more about the Reconstruction Era and the African American community here. In 2025, we hope to expand the offering of these three programs and possibly find a way to bring Waterford into the classroom.
Finally, we couldn’t forget to talk about our public programming: The Waterford Craft School and the Waterford Fair! In 2024, the Waterford Foundation hosted our 80th Waterford Fair on the first weekend of October. We had sunny skies and perfect fall weather to welcome over 15,000 attendees to the Village. 225 artisans and artists participated this year, including 76 who demonstrated. There were thirteen living history exhibits and eighteen performers who engaged, taught, and played with fairgoers throughout the weekend. Our talented team of docents welcomed 6,382 fairgoers into 13 historic homes, buildings, and gardens. In honor of the 80th Waterford Fair, the first ever Waterford Fair beer was tapped by Wheatland Springs at the Talbott’s Tavern at the Old School, and at the brand new Mills End Waystation. To be able to create a magical weekend for fairgoers, we had a dedicated team of over 400 volunteers that we can’t thank enough!
The Craft School brings in master artisans to teach traditional crafts, focusing on heritage skills and techniques. The 2023-2024 Craft School Season ended early this year, which had 253 students come out to our workshops. The 2024-2025 Craft School Season kicked off this summer, and during the season we will welcome thirty master instructors in total, including twelve new to the WCS, to teach students about their crafts. The summer was abuzz in Waterford with six children’s summer camps covering everything from making your own doll to survival skills. Registration is still open for WCS workshops happening in 2025 at this link!
This year was definitely one for the history books here, and we can’t wait to continue our work of preserving one of Virginia’s treasures in 2025! To support our mission of preservation and education, please consider giving as part of our end-of-year campaign. You can learn more about our end-of-year campaign on our support page linked below.
