Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection open for research.

Use Restrictions

No physical characteristics affect use of this material.

Preferred Citation

Loudoun Restoration and Preservation Society Records (M 094), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.

Acquisition Information

H. Vernon Davis, Leesburg, VA

Accruals

2013.0087

Historical Information

The Loudoun Restoration and Preservation Society (hereafter referred to as LRPS) was founded in 1967 when the Town of Leesburg purchased two buildings with plans to raze them and create a parking lot. When research revealed one of the buildings was originally a log cabin constructed in the mid-1700s, Leesburg citizens took action and formed a committee called Committee for Leesburg. With the intent to restore and preserve historic buildings, they leased the log cabin as their headquarters for $1.00 per year. The Committee completed renovations and restorations to the two buildings in 1976, at which point one became Loudoun Museum, and the other the Committee’s headquarters. In 1974, the committee was incorporated as Loudoun Restoration and Preservation Society.

To promote the recognition, restoration, and preservation of historical sites and buildings in Loudoun County, LRPS sponsored a historic plaque program in the city of Leesburg, and offered grants to organizations seeking to restore and preserve historic places. As of 2008, LRPS had given over $790,000 to 65 organizations for preservation work.

One of the ways LRPS drew funding for grants was through the annual August Court Days. Originally hosted by the Town of Leesburg in 1976 as a bicentennial celebration, August Court Days was a weekend of court trial reenactments from the late 1700s, a historically-based play, entertainment, and craft vendors. From 1977 to 2005, LRPS sponsored and organized the weekend, using the sales from tickets as a major source of grant monies donated. In 2007, the Town of Leesburg began hosting again and renamed it Court & Market Days, but discontinued holding it after 2008.

LRPS was run by an annually elected Board of Directors composed of the president, vice-president, secretary, and treasurer, and a Board of Trustees composed of no more than seventeen board members with three-year terms. The Board of Directors and the Board of Trustees organized August Court Days, approved grant monies, and worked in the wider Loudoun area to insure that historic sites were documented and preserved.

In 2008, the LRPS merged with the Preservation Society of Loudoun County, a group which focused on environmental preservation as well as historic building preservation. The merger was begun in 2008 and completed by 31 March 2009. The new organization is called Loudoun Preservation Society, and it covers all aspects of historical, cultural, and environmental preservation in Loudoun County.

Scope and Content

The collection contains minutes of regularly conducted meetings, the charter and by-laws for the society, lists of officers and board members, correspondence, treasurer’s reports, bank records, legal documents regarding filing for incorporation and permits to solicit contributions in Virginia, as well as copies of tax forms sent to the IRS. Additionally, there are plans for organizing August Court Days, and two video cassettes recording the 100th anniversary celebration of the Leesburg courthouse in 1994.

The records also contain documents on several restoration projects the LRPS sponsored such as the log cabin in Leesburg, the Black Horse Ordinary building in Leesburg, the Aldie Mill, the Ida Lee Parks Barn, the Courthouse Clock Tower, and grant requests from the 1980s through 2009.

Arrangement

Chronological

Related Material

Preservation Society of Loudoun County Collection, (M 068), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.

Adjunct Descriptive Data

Bibliography

Loudoun Restoration and Preservation Society, (M 094), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.

Preservation Society of Loudoun County Collection, (M 068), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.