Mount Gilead, Virginia
Encyclopedia
Mount Gilead is an unincorporated community in Loudoun County
, Virginia
, USA. Mount Gilead lies atop an 602 ft (183 m) peak of Catoctin Mountain
to the east of the North Fork Goose Creek.
on the road from Leesburg to Coes Mill on the North Fork of Goose Creek
for the purpose of founding a health spa from the mountain springs there. In 1823 Eaton sold three half-acre lots on his property for the establishment of a settlement named Mount Gilead, after the biblical mountain. The following year, his dream was given legitimacy by the establishment of a post office in the village. By 1835 the village had extended to 22 lots and several streets had been laid out.
Though the Civil War
largely passed by Mount Gilead, Eaton's spa went out of business due to lack of patrons during the war. In the postbellum years, the village continued to grow and prosper, with a school opening in 1870 and the establishment of several stills at the springs that once fed the spa.
The beginning of the end for Mount Gilead came in 1889 with the closing of Coes Mill. The post office was closed in 1905 and the school in 1918. With the coming of Prohibition
in 1921, the last of Mount Gilead's industries literally dried up and, by 1930, the county stopped maintaining the road from Mount Gilead to North Fork, thus placing the village at the end of a dead end road.
Today the village still exists as a small residential community, which in small way has returned to the spirits industry in the form of Willowcroft Vineyard which operates just north of the village.
Loudoun County, Virginia
Loudoun County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and is part of the Washington Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the county is estimated to be home to 312,311 people, an 84 percent increase over the 2000 figure of 169,599. That increase makes the county the fourth...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, USA. Mount Gilead lies atop an 602 ft (183 m) peak of Catoctin Mountain
Catoctin Mountain
Catoctin Mountain, along with the geologically associated Bull Run Mountains, comprises the easternmost mountain ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are in turn a part of the Appalachian Mountains range...
to the east of the North Fork Goose Creek.
History
Mount Gilead began in 1821 when Dr. Isaac Eaton purchased 18 acres (72,843.5 m²) on the western slope of Catoctin MountainCatoctin Mountain
Catoctin Mountain, along with the geologically associated Bull Run Mountains, comprises the easternmost mountain ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are in turn a part of the Appalachian Mountains range...
on the road from Leesburg to Coes Mill on the North Fork of Goose Creek
Goose Creek (Potomac River)
Goose Creek is a tributary of the Potomac River in Fauquier and Loudoun counties in northern Virginia. It comprises the principal drainage system for the Loudoun Valley.-Course:...
for the purpose of founding a health spa from the mountain springs there. In 1823 Eaton sold three half-acre lots on his property for the establishment of a settlement named Mount Gilead, after the biblical mountain. The following year, his dream was given legitimacy by the establishment of a post office in the village. By 1835 the village had extended to 22 lots and several streets had been laid out.
Though the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
largely passed by Mount Gilead, Eaton's spa went out of business due to lack of patrons during the war. In the postbellum years, the village continued to grow and prosper, with a school opening in 1870 and the establishment of several stills at the springs that once fed the spa.
The beginning of the end for Mount Gilead came in 1889 with the closing of Coes Mill. The post office was closed in 1905 and the school in 1918. With the coming of Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
in 1921, the last of Mount Gilead's industries literally dried up and, by 1930, the county stopped maintaining the road from Mount Gilead to North Fork, thus placing the village at the end of a dead end road.
Today the village still exists as a small residential community, which in small way has returned to the spirits industry in the form of Willowcroft Vineyard which operates just north of the village.