The Village of Aldie

In 1806, the Little River Turnpike Company opened 34 miles of ‘paved’ road for traffic from Alexandria to the banks of the Little River. It is at the end of the Turnpike, on the banks of the Little River, that Aldie’s history begins.

Aldie was established by an act of the Virginia legislature in 1810. It’s founder, Charles Fenton Mercer, established the village on a 30 acre tract of land inherited from his grandfather. Mercer chose the name Aldie after his ancestral home in Scotland.

Before establishing the village, Mercer built a mill near the Little River. Completed between 1808 and 1809, the mill was to become the focal point of Aldie and surrounding community.

Mercer used Matthew Adam, a Scotch millwright, as the chief architect, and William Cooke as the builder for the mill and other necessary structures. Locally made bricks were used for the one and a half foot think walls of the two story mill. Two large water wheels were installed to provide the power for the milling of wheat, corn, barley and oats.

Along with Charles Mercer, there are other notable names in the history of Aldie. President James Monroe built his estate, Oak Hill, just north of the village and he became a regular customer at the mill. A mill ledger shows a loan of $5 dollars to the fifth president of the United States. It was at Oak Hill the work was done on the Monroe Doctrine.

In the 1860’s, John Singleton Mosby came to the Aldie area. During the American Civil War, the ‘Gray Ghost’ traveled many times over the Stone Bridge, leading raids against Union camps.

In one attack against the Vermont Cavalry, Mosby and his men captured Union soldiers found hiding in the storage bins of the Aldie Mill. In 1980, the Virginia legislature renamed the Little River Turnpike thur Aldie as the John S. Mosby Highway in tribute to the famous Confederate Colonel.

Today Aldie retains much of its past. The village includes buildings from the early 1800’s as well as Victorian style frame houses, and visitors along the old Little River Turnpike still use the original Stone Bridge.

Records from 1835 show that population of Aldie to be around 100. More than 175 years later, the population in the main village is just about the same.

The Village of Aldie will be celebrating is 200th birthday throughout 2010. This web site will lead you on a tour of what is planned in the coming year. And, there is information on the web site about how you can join in the celebration.