{"id":463,"date":"2012-08-10T10:38:40","date_gmt":"2012-08-10T14:38:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jrileystewart.com\/blog\/?p=463"},"modified":"2023-09-05T12:03:11","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T16:03:11","slug":"travel-through-virginia-history-from-bluemont-to-unison-and-the-battlefield-district","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/travel-through-virginia-history-from-bluemont-to-unison-and-the-battlefield-district\/","title":{"rendered":"Travel Through Virginia History: From Bluemont to Unison and the Battlefield District"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\" align=\"center\">Once among the most densely populated parts of Loudoun County, the many small towns in the Loudoun Valley fell victim in the mid-20<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0Century\u00a0\u00a0to the population migration\u00a0towards the big cities. They became the quiet enclaves they are today, still surrounded by beautiful farms and estates that are little changed from the 1860&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_465\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-465\" style=\"width: 852px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Daybreak-Pasture-Bloomfield-Road.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-465\" title=\"Daybreak Pasture, Bloomfield Road\" src=\"https:\/\/jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Daybreak-Pasture-Bloomfield-Road.jpg\" alt=\"virginia piedmont landscape photograph\" width=\"852\" height=\"460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Daybreak-Pasture-Bloomfield-Road.jpg 852w, https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Daybreak-Pasture-Bloomfield-Road-300x161.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Daybreak-Pasture-Bloomfield-Road-500x269.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 852px) 100vw, 852px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-465\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Western Loudoun Valley, where the landscape today is much like was in the 1800s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h1>Bloomfield<\/h1>\n<p>The town of Bloomfield was founded in January 1816. It took its name from the fields of wildflowers along the Blue Ridge\u00a0near the town. \u00a0At its peak in the 1830s, Bloomfield had a population of around 60, having \u201c..12 houses, 2 stores, a tan yard, a tailor, a cabinet maker, and a boot and shoe factory.\u201d\u00a0 The children were schooled in the Old Ebenezer Baptist Church, just up the road from Bloomfield.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<figure id=\"attachment_469\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-469\" style=\"width: 731px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Evening-at-Ebenezer-Churches2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-469 \" title=\"Evening at Ebenezer Churches\" src=\"https:\/\/jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Evening-at-Ebenezer-Churches2.jpg\" alt=\"virginia piedmont landscape photograph, Virginia Piedmont Loudoun Valley, Bloomfield, historic architecture\" width=\"731\" height=\"460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Evening-at-Ebenezer-Churches2.jpg 731w, https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Evening-at-Ebenezer-Churches2-300x188.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Evening-at-Ebenezer-Churches2-476x300.jpg 476w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 731px) 100vw, 731px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-469\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The 2 Ebenezer Baptist Churches in Bloomfield, which served both the &#8220;Old&#8221; and the &#8220;New&#8221; Baptists in the early 1800s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Ebenezer Baptist Churches are remarkable architectural examples from the late 18th and early 19th century. The Old Church (the brick structure on the left in the above photograph) may have been built as early as 1769.\u00a0 The larger New Church (built about 1855) is stone and covered with stucco in the Greek Revival style.<\/p>\n<p>It was to the Old Ebenezer Church where Confederate Colonel John Mosby and his men went to divide the Federal payroll they \u201ccaptured\u201d during his <a title=\"More on Mosby's Greenback Raid\" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2004\/nov\/12\/20041112-081506-3157r\/?feat=article_related_stories\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">1864 Greenback Raid<\/a>. Mosby&#8217;s partisans penetrated Gen. Sheridan&#8217;s rear echelon in the Shenandoah Valley, attacked and burned the Union&#8217;s payroll train, and carried off \u00a0$170,000.<\/p>\n<p>Once back at the Old Ebenezer Church, the Confederates divvied up the money for personal use, but Mosby himself refused his share.<\/p>\n<p>Bloomfield, complete with its view of the flowers, today is a very quiet little place and well off the beaten track. It has about 12 structures, one of which is the 1857 Johnston Chapel, which served as Bloomfield\u2019s \u201cdowntown\u201d Methodist Episcopal Church until 1949. It now is serving as a farm structure, sadly. The other landmark is Freeman\u2019s Store, built in 1925.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_468\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-468\" style=\"width: 728px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Freemans-Store-Bloomfield.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-468 \" title=\"Village of Bloomfield Today\" src=\"https:\/\/jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Freemans-Store-Bloomfield.jpg\" alt=\"virginia piedmont landscape photograph, Virginia village, Freeman's, Store, Bloomfield\" width=\"728\" height=\"460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Freemans-Store-Bloomfield.jpg 728w, https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Freemans-Store-Bloomfield-300x189.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Freemans-Store-Bloomfield-474x300.jpg 474w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 728px) 100vw, 728px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-468\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">View of Bloomfield today, showing the 1920s Freeman&#8217;s Store and stone houses<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h1>Unison<\/h1>\n<figure id=\"attachment_471\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-471\" style=\"width: 322px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Unison-Historic-Marker1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-471 \" title=\"Unison Historic Marker\" src=\"https:\/\/jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Unison-Historic-Marker1.jpg\" alt=\"Virginia Piedmont, photograph, history, towns, antebellum, Civil War, Unison, Battle of Unison\" width=\"322\" height=\"481\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Unison-Historic-Marker1.jpg 460w, https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Unison-Historic-Marker1-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 322px) 100vw, 322px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-471\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">This roadside marker announces the historic significance of this small Loudoun Valley village<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Traveling east on Bloomfield Road takes you to the quaint village of Unison, established in 1813. The Unison Historic District contains a collection of architectural styles from the early 19<sup>th<\/sup>Century and was the site of the most intense fighting during the 1862 Battle of Unison.<\/p>\n<p>During the 1700s, first the Quakers and then Methodists settled here, worshipping in private homes.\u00a0 In 1771, the local Quakers bought a 10-acre tract of land about a mile south of the village and four years later established the South Fork Meeting of the Society of Friends. South Fork Meeting was one of the more lax Quaker settlements, frequently being the subject of numerous infractions of the rules of Quaker discipline and morality.\u00a0 South Fork Meeting was \u2018laid down\u2019 in 1889. Methodists built their first chapel here\u2014the Old Bethesda Church&#8211;in 1785. The current Unison United Methodist Church replaced it in 1832. It is still in use today, and is the most prominent building in this small village.<\/p>\n<p>Most of the development of Unison occurred after 1802 and up until the Civil War. Its 1830 census recorded 135 residents with 25 houses and several businesses.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_473\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-473\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Unison-United-Methodist-Church-b-18321.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-473\" title=\"Unison United Methodist Church, b 1832\" src=\"https:\/\/jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Unison-United-Methodist-Church-b-18321.jpg\" alt=\"Virginia Piedmont, history, towns, antebellum, Civil War, Unison, United Methodist, architecture, preservation\" width=\"630\" height=\"460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Unison-United-Methodist-Church-b-18321.jpg 630w, https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Unison-United-Methodist-Church-b-18321-300x219.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Unison-United-Methodist-Church-b-18321-410x300.jpg 410w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-473\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Unison United Methodist Church, built in 1832 to replace the 1785 &#8220;Old Bethesda Church&#8221;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h1>Battle of Unison<\/h1>\n<p>This battle of the American Civil War until recently was known as the &#8220;unknown battle.&#8221; It was only in 2011 that the Commonwealth recognized the Unison Battlefield as an official state historic district.<\/p>\n<p>The pristine <a title=\"More information about the Unison Battlefield Historic District\" href=\"http:\/\/www.unisonva.org\/battlefield-district.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Unison Battlefield Historic District<\/a> encompasses 8,000 acres in Loudoun and Fauquier counties and constitutes one of the largest historic districts in Loudoun as well as being its first battlefield historic district.<\/p>\n<p>There are few historical markers on the battlefield so common around Virginia, and very little physical evidence that it even occurred. Yet, it was this battle that led President Lincoln to fire General McClellan in 1864 as the Commander of the Union Forces, replacing him with Maj Gen Ambrose Burnside.<\/p>\n<p>In late October 1862, following the Battle of Sharpsburg, President Lincoln noted that McClellan\u2019s 100,000-man Army was actually nearer to the &#8220;homeland&#8221; of the Confederates than was Lee&#8217;s army, situated at the time in the Shenandoah Valley. Knowing that General Lee would be taking his 50,000 man army back toward Richmond, Lincoln ordered Gen McClellan to place his force between Lee&#8217;s and Richmond, and potentially end the war.<\/p>\n<p>So it was in early November of that year that McClellan was moving &#8211;ever so cautiously as was his manner&#8211;southward through the Loudoun Valley to block Lee\u2019s army from reaching Richmond.\u00a0Lee anticipated the danger, however, and ordered J.E.B. Stuart to take 1000 cavalry and artillery to delay the Union forces to give Lee time to cross the Blue Ridge and advance to Richmond.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_476\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-476\" style=\"width: 710px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Unison-Barn-in-Winter.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-476 \" title=\"Unison Barn in Winter\" src=\"https:\/\/jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Unison-Barn-in-Winter.jpg\" alt=\"virginia piedmont landscape photograph, fine art photography, historic architecture, barn, winter, landscape, Unison, VA\" width=\"710\" height=\"460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Unison-Barn-in-Winter.jpg 710w, https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Unison-Barn-in-Winter-300x194.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Unison-Barn-in-Winter-463x300.jpg 463w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 710px) 100vw, 710px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-476\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Historic barn along the banks of Dog Run, where the Federal vanguard first encountered Stuart&#8217;s intrusion to start of the Battle of Unison<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The first clash occurred near Unison along a small stream called Dog Branch. Over the first three days of November, several hundred Union infantry, cavalry, and artillery followed and clashed with Stuart\u2019s greatly outnumbered confederates between Philomont and Upperville, with the heaviest action being at Unison. The town and its surrounding fields were repeatedly bombarded by both Union and Confederate artillery.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_475\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-475\" style=\"width: 757px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Unison-Farm-in-Winter.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-475 \" title=\"Unison Farm in Winter\" src=\"https:\/\/jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Unison-Farm-in-Winter.jpg\" alt=\"virginia piedmont landscape photograph, historic, architecture, towns, Unison, farm\" width=\"757\" height=\"460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Unison-Farm-in-Winter.jpg 757w, https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Unison-Farm-in-Winter-300x182.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Unison-Farm-in-Winter-493x300.jpg 493w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 757px) 100vw, 757px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-475\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Virginia farmhouse within the Unison battlefield site, in Winter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>By the time McClellan was finally ready to move on to Richmond, Lee had escaped the trap. The NY Times reported on 5 November that Stuart \u201cbaulked what might have been a splendid success.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Following the Battle of Unison, the Methodists returned to their Church to find the pews stained with blood and the loft covered in graffiti from the Union soldiers who were treated there. One faded note by Ellsworth Packer, Co H, 21st Connecticut Infantry Regiment says:<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">\u201cIn some lone hour of bliss, When sorrows are forgot, Then cast a happy glance at this, And read forget me not.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_474\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-474\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Saffels-Store-at-Bloomfield-Crossroad-Unison.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-474 \" title=\"Saffel's Store at Bloomfield Crossroad, Unison\" src=\"https:\/\/jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Saffels-Store-at-Bloomfield-Crossroad-Unison-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"Virginia, towns, piedmont, historic, architecture\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Saffels-Store-at-Bloomfield-Crossroad-Unison-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Saffels-Store-at-Bloomfield-Crossroad-Unison-500x281.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Saffels-Store-at-Bloomfield-Crossroad-Unison.jpg 816w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-474\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Saffel&#8217;s Store was once the main mercantile and post office and the last remaining business in Unison.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Unison remained a thriving village and close-knit community until the population migration to the larger cities virtually emptied the small communities of Loudoun Valley. All that remains today of its once vibrant commercial district is the Unison Store, erected in the late 1800s for Henry W. Saffel. Henry ran it until 1937 when he was killed in a robbery at the store. His son Clyde Monroe Saffel continued to run the store until 1961, when his daughter\u2019s family assumed ownership.\u00a0 They operated it until the late 1980s. Terri Craun Teeter (currently of Bloomfield and great-grandaughter to Henry) remembers &#8220;growing up&#8221; in the store, getting off the school bus there and staying with her mother until closing at 9 o\u2019clock. The store finally closed its doors in 1997 and currently houses the Unison Preservation Society.<\/p>\n<p>The area between Bluemont to Unison to Philomont is a beautifully bucolic piece of Loudoun Valley that offers a glimpse of what \u00a0our Virginia landscape looked like prior to the Civil War. Its villages are small enclaves connected largely by dirt roads that traverse gently rolling hills. Among these hills are many cattle, horse, and sheep pastures, stately stone manors and old barns, small creeks with low-water fords, and abundant vistas.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_479\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-479\" style=\"width: 679px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Grazing-Sheep-on-Airmont-Road2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-479\" title=\"Grazing Sheep on Airmont Road\" src=\"https:\/\/jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Grazing-Sheep-on-Airmont-Road2.jpg\" alt=\"virginia, piedmont, pastoral, landscape, sheep\" width=\"679\" height=\"460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Grazing-Sheep-on-Airmont-Road2.jpg 679w, https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Grazing-Sheep-on-Airmont-Road2-300x203.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Grazing-Sheep-on-Airmont-Road2-442x300.jpg 442w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 679px) 100vw, 679px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-479\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Grazing Sheep along Airmont Road<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_480\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-480\" style=\"width: 578px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Sunrise-at-the-Bushrod-Lynn-Farm.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-480\" title=\"Sunrise at the Bushrod Lynn Farm\" src=\"https:\/\/jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Sunrise-at-the-Bushrod-Lynn-Farm.jpg\" alt=\"Virginia, Piedmont, Loudoun Valley, Airmont, historic, architecture, \" width=\"578\" height=\"460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Sunrise-at-the-Bushrod-Lynn-Farm.jpg 578w, https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Sunrise-at-the-Bushrod-Lynn-Farm-300x238.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Sunrise-at-the-Bushrod-Lynn-Farm-376x300.jpg 376w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 578px) 100vw, 578px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-480\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sunrise at the Bushrod Lynn Farm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_482\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-482\" style=\"width: 757px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Pasture-on-Newlin-Mill-Road.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-482\" title=\"Pasture on Newlin Mill Road\" src=\"https:\/\/jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Pasture-on-Newlin-Mill-Road.jpg\" alt=\"Virginia, Piedmont, Loudoun Valley, landscape, pastoral, cattle, water\" width=\"757\" height=\"460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Pasture-on-Newlin-Mill-Road.jpg 757w, https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Pasture-on-Newlin-Mill-Road-300x182.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Pasture-on-Newlin-Mill-Road-493x300.jpg 493w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 757px) 100vw, 757px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-482\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pastoral Scene along Newlin Mill Road<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>To see it for yourself, follow these roads: Foggy Bottom Road from Bluemont, Bloomfield Road to Unison, Unison Road to St. Louis Road then north to Snickersville Pike, Airmont Road north of Bloomfield, and Woodtrail Road to Airmont.<\/p>\n<p>For more images of the area visit our photo gallery by clicking or paste <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pbase.com\/mosbyheritage\/unison\">http:\/\/www.pbase.com\/mosbyheritage\/unison<\/a> your browser.<\/p>\n<p>All images and text copyright 2012, J Riley Stewart<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Once among the most densely populated parts of Loudoun County, the many small towns in the Loudoun Valley fell victim in the mid-20th\u00a0Century\u00a0\u00a0to the population migration\u00a0towards the big cities. They became the quiet enclaves they are today, still surrounded by beautiful farms and estates that are little changed from the 1860&#8217;s. Bloomfield The town of &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/travel-through-virginia-history-from-bluemont-to-unison-and-the-battlefield-district\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Travel Through Virginia History: From Bluemont to Unison and the Battlefield District<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[358,3],"tags":[43,103,104,329],"class_list":["post-463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","category-places","tag-piedmont","tag-architecture-photography","tag-farm-photography","tag-history"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Travel Through Virginia History: From Bluemont to Unison and the Battlefield District - Thoughts on the Craft of Fine Art Photography<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jrileystewart.com\/blog\/travel-through-virginia-history-from-bluemont-to-unison-and-the-battlefield-district\/\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.jrileystewart.com\\\/blog\\\/travel-through-virginia-history-from-bluemont-to-unison-and-the-battlefield-district\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.jrileystewart.com\\\/blog\\\/travel-through-virginia-history-from-bluemont-to-unison-and-the-battlefield-district\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"J. 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