Middleburg is a town in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States with a population of approximately 640[clarification needed] people.
History
The town was established in 1787 by American Revolutionary War Lieutenant Colonel and Virginia statesman, Levin Powell. He purchased the land for Middleburg at $2.50 per acre from Joseph Chinn, a first cousin of George Washington. It had been called "Chinn's Crossroads", but Powell chose the new name of Middleburg because of the village's location midway between Alexandria, Virginia, and Winchester, Virginia, on the Ashby Gap trading route (now followed by the U.S. Route 50 highway).
Since the early 1900s, Middleburg began welcoming visitors that descended on the town for foxhunting and steeplechasing. The village soon earned a reputation as the "Nation's Horse and Hunt Capital", attracting prominent visitors from across the U.S. Middleburg is the home of the 15,000-square-foot (1,400 m2) National Sporting Library research center for horse and field sports, which publishes Thoroughbred Heritage on the Internet.
Geography
Middleburg is located at 38°58′6″N 77°44′15″W / 38.96833°N 77.7375°W / 38.96833; -77.7375 (38.968411, -77.737631)[3].
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.6 square miles (1.5 km²), all of it land.
Demographics
As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 632 people, 322 households, and 171 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,083.8 people per square mile (420.7/km²). There were 364 housing units at an average density of 624.2/sq mi (242.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 76.58% White, 20.25% African American, 0.16% Asian, 1.27% from other races, and 1.74% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.27% of the population.
There were 322 households out of which 20.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.2% were married couples living together, 14.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.6% were non-families. 39.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.96 and the average family size was 2.57.
In the town the population was spread out with 16.9% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 26.1% from 45 to 64, and 21.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 72.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 71.6 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $40,625, and the median income for a family was $60,313. Males had a median income of $41,875 versus $32,708 for females. The per capita income for the town was $32,643. About 6.7% of families and 9.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.7% of those under age 18 and 10.3% of those age 65 or over.
In popular culture
Middleburg was named as the location of the mysterious crop circles in the horror film spoof Scary Movie 3 (2003). The film shows an actual map of the Middleburg area, complete with actual surrounding towns and VA-15 pictured on the map.
Notable natives or residents
[citation needed][clarification needed]
- Melanie Blunt, former First Lady of Missouri (2005-2009)
- Jack Kent Cooke (1912-1997), businessman and owner of the Washington Redskins, Baltimore Orioles, and the Los Angeles Lakers
- [[Media:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheila_JohnsonSheila Johnson]], Billionaire and Co-founder of BET
- Alice du Pont Mills (1912-2002), aviatrix, thoroughbred race-horse breeder and owner, environmentalist and philanthropist; a member of the Du Pont family
- Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929-1994), book editor and First Lady of the United States (1961-1963); a member of the Kennedy family
- Wendy Pepper (born 1964), fashion designer
- Bruce Sundlun (born 1920), businessman, lawyer and politician; former Governor of Rhode Island (1991-1995)
- Elizabeth Taylor (born 1932), actress, jewelry and perfume designer, activist
- John Warner (born 1927), lawyer and politician; former U.S. Secretary of the Navy (1972-1974), former U.S. Senator from Virginia (1979-2009)
Newspapers
References
- ^ a b "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. http://geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2005-05-03. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
External links
Maps
