Lovettsville Historical Society & Museum

Our August Newsletter is now available, featuring an introduction to the Loudoun Farm Heritage Museum and the role that Lovettsville-area farming plays in the story it tells.  Get the Newsletter here.  

  Visitors from the Lovettsville area who have toured the Loudoun Heritage Farm Museum in Sterling for the first time, are pleasantly surprised to find that the Western Loudoun County and the Lovettsville area are […]

The Lovettsville Historical Society is sponsoring an exciting new project, called “Voices of Lovettsville,” to collect stories of our local citizens’ experiences during these extraordinary times of the coronavirus. Sheryl Frye has volunteered to lead […]

Our July newsletter launches the “Voices of Lovettsville” campaign, to collect the stories of your experiences in the time of Covid-19.  And our history feature story is a bit of a history mystery:   discovering how […]

  The Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1919 was the worst ever in world history  – except perhaps for the 14th century Black Death — taking an estimated 675,000 lives in the United States, and 50 […]

The June newsletter provides a guide to Loudoun County online history resources, and highlights our remembrance of former Mayor and LHS Board Member Elaine Walker.  History features include a Civil War story by Jim Rada, […]

James Rada was scheduled to be our speaker for the May 17 presentation in our monthly Lecture Series — which is now on hold due to the Coronavirus shutdown of public events.  We asked Mr. […]

The following letter was sent to the Board of Supervisors by the Executive Committee of the Loudoun County Preservation and Conservation Coalition: May 1, 2020 The Honorable Phyllis Randall Chair, Loudoun County Board of Supervisors 1 Harrison […]

Memorial Day remarks by Edward Spannaus, Lovettsville Historical Society, May 25, 2020, delivered as part of the Town of Lovettsville’s virtual Memorial Day Ceremony. The video of the entire event can be viewed here.    […]

We have just published our monthly newsletter for May 2020. Even though we are forced to close the Museum, and postpone all lectures until it is safe to meet again,  there is still lots to […]

This is the letter sent to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors by the Lovettsville Alumni Association, asking the Board to halt the demolition of the Community Center with its classrooms from theold Lovettsville School: […]

By Nancy Spannaus In the Hamilton-vs.-Jefferson conflict that raged throughout America in the early Republic, there weren’t many parts of Virginia which consistently elected opponents of Thomas Jefferson, but one of them was Loudoun County. […]

The Loudoun County Heritage Commission sent a letter to the Board of Supervisors on March 31 supporting the Lovettsville Historical Society and the Lovettsville Alumni Association in their efforts to save the historic sections of […]

On April 14, 2020, Fred George, President of the Lovettsville Historical Society, sent the following letter to Catoctin Supervisor Caleb Kushner and the entire Loudoun County Board of Supervisors:    

The Lovettsville Museum and our lecture series is shut down,  but history is not shut down!  It is open. We continue to bring you our newsletter, in which we will point you to some useful on-line resources which you […]

Hessian Soldiers in Lovettsville  By Edward Spannaus During the American Revolution, tens of thousands of German soldiers were sent by their rulers to fight against the American colonists on behalf of the British crown. Thousands […]

The March newsletter is now published.  See it here.

By Michael Zapf In our February 2020 Newsletter we introduced Dr. James A. Willard, who resided and practiced in Lovettsville from 1867 until his death in 1906. Two sources of information give us in-depth insights […]

German Immigrants, American Pioneers: The Brunners of Schifferstadt Presented by Patricia Ogden and Boyce Rensberger Sunday, March 8, at 2:00 p.m. St. James United Church of Christ, Lovettsville, Va. The saga of one desperate German […]

By Michael Zapf Readers may recall the article published on the Lovettsville Historical Society website of January 25th, 2018, “The Fascinating Story Behind Wilfred Emory Cutshaw’s Crumbling 1854 Book” which also appeared as “Gems of […]

Kicking off the Lovettsville Historical Society’s 2020 Lecture Series: “Lovettsville 101” An Introduction to The German Settlement Sunday, February 9, 2020, at 2:00 p.m. St. James United Church of Christ 10 East Broad Way, Lovettsville […]

Get the full January issue here.  Feb. 9:  “Lovettsville 101:”  An introduction to The German Settlement Rob Jones honored at LHS Annual Membership Meeting Feature article:  Luther Potterfield and the Lovettsville Potterfields: A Family Divided Rev. […]

Luther H. Potterfield and the Lovettsville Potterfields: A Family Divided By Edward Spannaus   (This is an edited version of talk presented to the Lovettsville Historical Society, on Sept. 20, 2015)   The Civil War […]

    The Rev. George E. Handley, who spoke as part of the Lovettsville Historical Society’s lecture series in 2015, died on Dec. 20,2019  in Winchester.  Funeral services were held at the Village at Orchard […]

The first order of business at the Lovettsville Historical Society’s 2019 Annual Membership Meeting on Dec. 15, was the presentation of a donation to retired Marine Sergeant and Paralympic Bronze Medalist, Rob Jones, for the […]

Our latest newsletter is now available! See it here.

  Why does that house have two front doors?    One little-known feature which gives the Lovettsville area a distinctive Germanic flavor, is the presence of a number of two-door houses – that is, two […]

“The Lost History of Potomac Marble” Presented by Paul Kreingold. Conservation Director of the Loudoun County Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America. Sunday, November 10, at 2:00 p.m.   When the Capitol of the […]

Jimmy Spring (above, center), who was featured in our “Living Legends of Lovettsville” presentation on Dec. 11, 2016, passed away on September 22.  The 2016 event was presented before a packed house in the fellowship hall at New Jerusalem […]

Read our latest newsletter here.

Above:  Photograph from The Times-Herald, Feb. 10, 1953, courtesy of Brunswick History Commission.  Automobiles are crossing the old bridge, as a construction crane is used to lower the superstructure for the new bridge, which replaced the […]

“Germanna 101: Virginia’s First German Settlement” Presented by Ashley Abruzzo, Germanna Foundation Sunday, October 13, at 2:00 p.m. Almost two decades before German settlers began streaming into Virginia’s Loudoun Valley and the Shenandoah Valley, the […]

Second Annual Tasting, Tales, and Tunes: Lovettsville Historical Society Night at Hiddencroft Vineyards Thursday Evening, October 17, 2019—7:00-9:30 p.m.  Those of us who live in this region relish the unique history, culture, stories, music, foods, […]

Get the newsletter here .

“The Shenandoah Valley’s German Heritage” Presented by Karen Good Cooper, President of the Shenandoah Germanic Heritage Museum Shenandoah County, Va. Sunday, September 8, at 2:00 p.m. When census takers asked Americans at the end of […]

See our August newsletter here.

The full video of our June 9 presentation on the Life and Times of Walter Fleming, is now available on our YouTube channel.  See it now!  Our thanks to Ethan Smith for editing and posting.  

As part of a broader effort to identify and preserve Loudoun County historic cemeteries and burial grounds, a newly-developed, interactive Loudoun County cemeteries map was unveiled at the June 4 Board of Supervisors meeting. With […]

Above:  Ethan Smith, Ed Spannaus, and Annie Smith. Ethan Smith, son of Annie and Buck Smith, won the Lovettsville Historical Award at the 5th Grade Awards Ceremony, held at Lovettsville Elementary School on June 5. […]

For our latest issue, read it here. In this issue: Lecture June 9: “A conversation with Walter Fleming” Upcoming LHS lectures and events Heritage Commission proposal presented to Supervisors 1938 WPA Historical Inventory: New Jerusalem […]

  On June 4, the Loudoun County Heritage Commission will present to the County Board of Supervisors, its recommendations for new monuments and memorials on the Courthouse grounds. Among the Heritage Commission recommendations are that […]

For the May issue, click here.

“American Indian Map of Loudoun County” to be presented by Eugene Scheel Sunday, May 19, at 2:00 p.m. Eugene Scheel has taught American Indian History to Loudoun County teachers for many decades, and he has […]

  Presented by M. H. B. Hughes at the Lovettsville Museum Saturday, May 11, at 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. M.H.B. Hughes says that her new book 1777 – Danbury on Fire! (Gatekeeper Press Nov. 2018) […]

View it here.

Presented by Nancy Spannaus Lovettsville Museum Sunday, April 7, at 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.         On Sunday April 7, Lovettsville author Nancy Spannaus will discuss and sign her new book, Hamilton Versus […]

Above: Travis Shaw Left: Potomac Home Brigade monument at Gettysburg   Presented by Travis Shaw, Public Programs Coordinator at the Mosby Heritage Area Association Sunday, March 10, 2:00 p.m.   On Sunday, March 10, we […]

Our February newsletter has just been published — accompanying the Russell Baker story, is a fascinating  school petition from the 1930s by parents from Morrisonville, plus photographs, and lots of other news about upcoming history […]

  By Edward Spannaus   Jan. 24, 2019–­It was with sadness that we learned of the January 21 death of acclaimed columnist and humorist Russell Baker – but at the same time, it was impossible […]

The Lovettsville Museum is closed for renovations through 9/27 so that we can paint, install LED lighting, and mount new displays, in time for the 2018 Lovettsville Oktoberfest on 9/28 & 9/29. To book a […]

A Play in One Act, Written by Sharon Dixon, Sunday, July 8, 2018 at 2:00 p.m.   In September 1864, Thomas Laws, a slave from Clarke County, Virginia, collaborated with Rebecca Wright, a Quaker school […]

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On May 17, 2018, the Loudoun County (Virginia) Board of Supervisors confirmed the nomination of Edward Spannaus to serve on the Loudoun County Heritage Commission as an at-large member. Spannaus, the vice-president of the Lovettsville […]