Restoring the Historic Places Of Bluemont

Bluemont Community Center c. 1921

The building that is now the Bluemont Community Center originally housed the Bluemont School from 1921 to 1962. It was constructed with the help of a land donation and $5,000 from Dr. Rufus Humphrey to the Loudoun County School Board, making it the third school in our village. Unfortunately, Dr. Humphrey did not live to see the completion of the building, which was built to his specifications. His portrait hung in the public auditorium, where it watched over school lunches, Christmas plays, and square dances for 40 years.

In 1962, with the decision to consolidate Bluemont and Round Hill Schools, the building was left vacant. In 2001, it was featured in a scene set at a “New England” high school in Season 3, Episode 3 of The West Wing, a popular TV series.

E.E. Lake Store c. 1901

The building now known as the E.E. Lake Store was constructed between 1901 and 1902 by T.P. and A.J. Simpson. In 1906, Edward E. Lake purchased the building and operated it until his death in March 1917. The two-story building, located at the corner of Snickersville Turnpike and Railroad Street, has served many purposes over the years, including a post office, an ice cream parlor, a barbershop, and most famously, a general store. A branch of the Loudoun National Bank of Leesburg also operated within the store, but it closed after robbers used explosives to open the safe in 1907. The second floor was used for many years as a dance hall and meeting space.

The general store remained in operation until the 1930s, after which only the post office remained, moving across the street in 1945. In the 1940s, the store reopened briefly but closed again after two years.

Since then, the building has opened only once a year during the Bluemont Fair. Eventually, the county and the citizens association raised enough funds to renovate the building. In 2018, it was reopened as Bluemont’s Welcome Center and the Plaster Museum of Bluemont Heritage.

In 2019, a farmers market began being held on Sundays from May through October. The following year, the Plaster Museum started hosting an annual exhibition. Previous exhibitions have included Snickersville and the Civil War (2020), Historic Schools of Bluemont (2021), Bluemont, our Agricultural Roots (2022), Quilting: The Fabric of Country Life (2023), and Native Voices of Loudoun County Past and Present (2024). The museum is open during the farmers market.

The E.E. Lake Store is located at 18351 Railroad Street, Bluemont, VA 20135.

The Snickersville Academy c. 1825
Bluemont Village’s First School & Church

In 1825, Amos Clayton donated half an acre of land behind the stone tavern, Carrington House, to establish the Snickersville Academy. This land was designated for a school, a nondenominational church, and a village meeting hall. The tuition for the school was set at $3.00 per semester.

For 25 years, the Snickersville Academy also functioned as a “free church,” serving the community. In 1851, about a decade before the Civil War, a new generation of residents built the village’s old stone church, now known as the Bluemont United Methodist Church.

Throughout the Civil War (1861-1865) and beyond, village children continued attending this one-room, rural schoolhouse, learning to read, write, do arithmetic, and understand the wider world.

In 1872, the village’s first public school, the multi-classroom Mountain Shadow School, was built near the old stone church. The “old schoolhouse” was then repurposed as rental housing.

From 1948 through the 1990s, various families used the cabin both as a full-time home and a summer retreat.

In 2010, the Hatcher family sold their mountain farm to Boulder Crest Retreat and donated the Snickersville Academy and the land it sits on to the Friends of Bluemont.

Restoration efforts began in late 2010.

2024 The Snickersville Academy was featured in the January issue of Middleburg Life magazine.