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2020 SESSION

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SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 28 Commending Willisville.

 

Agreed to by the Senate, February 20, 2020

 

WHEREAS, Willisville, a unique community in southwest Loudoun County, was added to the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places in 2019; and

WHEREAS, Willisville, the origins of which predate the Civil War, was established during the Reconstruction Era and takes its name from Henson Willis, a freedman who lived in the village and was the first person to be buried in the village cemetery; and  

WHEREAS, other former slaves from the Middleburg and Upperville areas also bought land in what is now Willisville and formed a small community with its own church, school, and store; and

WHEREAS, the 24-acre, 15-home village has endured for more than a century, and some community members are still able to trace their lineage back to Willisville’s original residents; and

WHEREAS, the Mosby Heritage Area Association considered recognizing Willisville in January 2018 and contacted longtime resident Carol Lee, whose family has lived in Willisville for generations, and who had already begun to catalog the history of the village, its families, and its burial grounds; and

WHEREAS, after working with local singing groups to raise money through a gospel concert, the Mosby Heritage Area Association and Carol Lee hired historian Jane Covington Motion to coordinate Willisville’s application as an historic place; and

WHEREAS, after successfully completing the application process, Willisville became Loudoun County’s only historically black village listed individually on the National Register of Historic Places, with its rural, rustic charms offering a window into Loudoun County’s past; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate of Virginia, That Willisville hereby be commended on being added to the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places in 2019; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Carol Lee on behalf of the Willisville Preservation Foundation as an expression of the Senate of Virginia’s admiration for the community’s contributions to the history and heritage of Loudoun County and the Commonwealth.