Hillsboro is a rural town in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. The population was 96 at the 2000 census.
Geography
Hillsboro is located at 39°11′54″N 77°43′28″W (39.198347, -77.724391).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.1 square miles (0.26Â km2), all of it land.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 96 people, 39 households, and 28 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,017.9 inhabitants per square mile (393.0/km2). There were 41 housing units at an average density of 434.7 per square mile (175.9/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.88% White, and 3.12% African American.
There were 39 households out of which 28.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.1% were married couples living together, 5.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.2% were non-families. 20.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.75.
In the town, the population was spread out with 19.8% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 30.2% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 84.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.5 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $54,375, and the median income for a family was $71,875. Males had a median income of $60,833 versus $27,250 for females. The per capita income for the town was $44,455. There were 11.1% of families and 10.0% of the population living below the poverty line, including 25.0% of under eighteens and none of those over 64.
History, culture and notes
Hillsboro, originally spelled Hillsborough, lies in the Hillsboro Gap of the Short Hill Mountain, which is part of the Blue Ridge Mountains in northwestern Virginia. The town is about 55 miles northwest of downtown Washington, D.C. and 10 miles southeast of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Virginia State Route 9 is the main road through town.
Until 2000 there were no street addresses for the buildings in town; the 60-odd buildings in Hillsboro were referred to by their owners' names or their purposes.
Author Byron Farwell was mayor of the town for many years; other mayors included Sandy Muir and Alix Spaith.
A central feature of the town is its affectionately named "Old Stone School." Originally named Locust Grove Academy, the oldest part of the building, the east wing, was built in 1874. The Academy's first principal was Mrs. J.B. White. The Old Stone School, as it is referred to now, is situated astride the eastern entrance to the town on Route 9. The stone structure was completed in 1917 with the addition of more rooms on the west side. A junior high school was established there in 1918, and operated for 17 years, until 1935. The brick auditorium was added in 1929. Classes for Grades One through Seven were taught there until the spring of 1966, when Hillsboro Elementary opened. The school was the hub of the community in the early 1900s. Community plays were frequently held there with a local orchestra that played during intermission.
Located next to the Old Stone School is Hillsboro Charter Academy, which opened in 2016 inside the former Hillsboro Elementary.
"Although there were mills and houses in the Gap in the late 1700s, the town of Hillsboro (spelled Hillsborough until its 1880 incorporation) was not formally established until December 31, 1802 by an act passed by the Virginia General Assembly. The trustees of Hillsboro named in the act were Mahlon Hough, Samuel Purcell, Jr., Thomas Leslie, Josiah White, Jr., Edward Cunard, Mahlon Roach, and Thomas D. Stevens. By June 20, 1811, when Henry Griffin bought lot No. 12 on the town plat at auction for $88.50 paid to the trustees, he was required to build "a House thereon Twelve feet Square or equal thereto with a Stone or Brick Chimney to the same and a Shingle Roof on it within Four years of the Day of the Sale of the said lott." Due to its favorable location on the Vestal's Gap Road, the town grew quickly and in the early 1800s was one of the leading trade centers of western Loudoun, along with Snickerville (Bluemont) and Woodgrove, which has since disappeared. Much of Hillsboro's activity was due to its mills, with as many as five operating at one time, all on Catoctin Creek or its nearby branches."
The Hillsboro Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 7, 1979.
On December 28, 2016, the town limits officially tripled to 172 acres. The zoning change brought the Old Stone School inside the town limits for the first time.
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