Did You Know?

Located in the heart of Virginia's famous Piedmont hunt country, Delaplane was originally known as Piedmont Station, but was renamed in 1874 after W. E. Delaplane, an Ohio businessman who had successfully taken over operations at the local general store which had faltered in the aftermath of the civil war . Previously in 1861 General Stonewall Jackson had marched his troops from Winchester to the Piedmont Station train depot, where he loaded them on rail cars headed for the First Battle of Manassas . This marked the first time a railroad had been used to move troops into battle. Historically Delaplane has encompassed some of North America's oldest fox hunting territory, and from 1932 to 1945 Delaplane's Cobbler Mountain range hosted many of General George S. Patton's fabled escapades with his Cobbler Fox Hounds . Patton was MFH of the pack until his military transfer to Hawaii in 1935, and the club was disbanded ten years later upon receiving news of his untimely death in Heidelberg, Germany. Today Piedmond Fox Hounds based in The Plains , the oldest fox hunting club in the United States, still hunts Delaplane's rugged, stone wall lined terrain; as do Orange County Hunt based in Middleburg and Old Dominion Hounds based in Orlean . Delaplane's close proximity to Washington, DC juxtaposed with a remarkably well preserved 19th century agricultural heritage, have given rise to the construction of numerous expansive country estates; many of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places such as Mount Bleak House , Moreland , and Oak Hill : an early home of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall . In 1975 philanthropist Paul Mellon donated a 1,132-acre (4.58 km²) tract of land in Delaplane to the Commonwealth of Virginia for the development of a state park Sky Meadows State Park which hosts the Delaplane Strawberry Festival

The previous owner, Sir Robert Hadow, had named the tract "Skye " Farm after the island in Scotland which the area reminded him of. Later in 1991, Paul Mellon presented an additional 462-acre (1.87 km²) adjoining tract as a gift to the park. This tract, the Lost Mountain Bridle Trail area, contains a parcel of land that was purchased from Lord Fairfax by George Washington . In his recently published memoirs Virginia Senator John Warner fondly recalls childhood summers spent working on the family farm in Delaplane.

The village of Delaplane today remains home to Emmanuel Episcopal Church , an antique shop, post office, and four boutique wineries; with nearby villages of Upperville , Middleburg , and Marshall providing most shopping, dining and professional services for residents.
Along with Sky Meadows State Park , Delaplane is home to the G. Richard Thompson Wildlife Management Area >, the Crooked Run Valley Rural Historic District , a designagted Virginia State Scenic River. The state-funded Virginia Outdoors Foundation along with private conservation groups such as the Piedmont Environmental Council have helped to place a vast portion of the privately held lands in Delaplane into perpetual conservation easement . These efforts, coupled with Delaplane’s ensconcement within northern Fauquier County’s most restrictive "RC" (Rural Conservation) zoning district, have historically imposed strict limits on development, and fostered the growth of local, sustainable, and family oriented farm-to-table efforts such as Hollin Farms and Valley View Farm , among others, which participate in the Piedmont Environmental Council's program

Janet White
150th Celebration Chair