The town was established in 1787 by Revolutionary War officer and statesman Leven Powell. He purchased the land for Middleburg at $2.50 per acre in 1763 from Joseph Chinn, a first cousin of George Washington. It had been called "Chinn's Crossroads" and was then called Powell Town. When Leven Powell declined to have the town named after him, the town was called Middleburgh, and later, simply Middleburg. The village is located midway between the port of Alexandria[5] and Winchester, Virginia, on the Ashby Gaptrading route (now followed by U.S. Route 50).
From the early 1900s, Middleburg began welcoming visitors who participated in foxhunting and steeplechasing. The village soon earned a reputation as the "Nation's Horse and Hunt Capital", attracting prominent visitors from across the U.S. Middleburg is the home of the 15,000-square-foot (1,400 m2) National Sporting Library research center for horse and field sports, which publishes Thoroughbred Heritage on the Internet. A new addition is being made to include an art gallery and museum.
As of the census[3] of 2000, there were 632 people, 322 households, and 171 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,083.8 people per square mile (420.7/km2). There were 364 housing units at an average density of 624.2 per square mile (242.3/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 76.58% White, 20.25% African American, 0.16% Asian, 1.27% from other races, and 1.74% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.27% of the population.
There were 322 households, out of which 20.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.2% were married couples living together, 14.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.6% were non-families. 39.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.96 and the average family size was 2.57.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 16.9% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 26.1% from 45 to 64, and 21.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 72.7 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 71.6 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $40,625, and the median income for a family was $60,313. Males had a median income of $41,875 versus $32,708 for females. The per capita income for the town was $32,643. About 6.7% of families and 9.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.7% of those under age 18 and 10.3% of those age 65 or over.
Public safety
Middleburg is served by the Middleburg Police Department, composed of eight sworn officers and a civilian employee.[13] It is also served by the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office. The Middleburg Volunteer Fire Department was founded in 1936, the third oldest fire department in Loudoun County. After facing numerous challenges in its final years, the fire department dissolved and turned over its operations to Loudoun County Fire-Rescue in 2015. The current Middleburg station 3 is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by career personnel from the county.
Middleburg Life: Monthly lifestyle publication/news service. Middleburg's oldest and most respected locally owned and operated newspaper covering the people, lifestyles, and trends of the countryside.
Middleburg was named as the location of the mysterious crop circles in the horror filmspoofScary Movie 3 (2003). The film shows an actual map of the Middleburg area, complete with actual surrounding towns and Route 15 pictured on the map.
The New Hampshire scenes in the season three "Manchester" episodes of The West Wing were filmed in Middleburg.
The Red Fox Inn is featured in Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie (1964) and the town's name as well as surrounding towns are mentioned over the loudspeaker in the bus station. Several horse riding scenes were also shot there. [23]