Hillsboro is a rural town in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. The population was 80 at the 2010 census and an estimated 169 as of 2019.
Geography
Hillsboro is located in western Loudoun County at (39.198347, −77.724391), at the east end of Hillsboro Gap, where the North Fork of Catoctin Creek breaks through Short Hill Mountain, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. The town is east of the West Virginia border and northwest of Leesburg, the Loudoun county seat.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all of it land.
Transportation
Virginia State Route 9 (Charles Town Pike) is the only primary highway passing through Hillsboro. SR 9 extends northwest to Charles Town and to Martinsburg, West Virginia, also connecting with Interstate 81. To the southeast, SR 9 connects with Virginia State Route 7, which continues southeastward to Leesburg and Alexandria. Between Leesburg and Alexandria, SR 7 interchanges with Interstate 495, Interstate 66, and Interstate 395.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 96 people, 39 households, and 28 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 41 housing units at an average density of 434.7 per square mile (175.9/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 96.88% White, and 3.12% African American.
There were 39 households, out of which 28.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.1% were married couples living together, 5.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.2% were non-families. 20.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.75.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 19.8% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 30.2% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 84.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.5 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $54,375, and the median income for a family was $71,875. Males had a median income of $60,833 versus $27,250 for females. The per capita income for the town was $44,455. There were 11.1% of families and 10.0% of the population living below the poverty line, including 25.0% of under eighteens and none of those over 64.
History, culture and notes
Hillsboro, originally spelled "Hillsborough", lies in the Hillsboro Gap of Short Hill Mountain, which is part of the Blue Ridge Mountains in northwestern Virginia. The town is about northwest of downtown Washington, D.C. and south of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.
Early settlement in this area was stimulated by the growth of population in Pennsylvania of Germans and Quakers seeking religious freedom. Looking south for new, fertile lands to farm, many Quaker families migrated to the Loudoun area and had a significant impact on its development. The first record of settlement in the Hillsboro area, then referred to as the Gap, is dated 1746. Records of twice monthly meetings of the Gap Quakers, held in one of the houses, date to 1755.
"Although there were mills and houses in the Gap in the late 1700s, the town of Hillsboro (spelled Hillsborough until its 1880 incorporation) was not formally established until December 31, 1802 by an act passed by the Virginia General Assembly. The trustees of Hillsboro named in the act were Mahlon Hough, Samuel Purcell, Jr., Thomas Leslie, Josiah White, Jr., Edward Cunard, Mahlon Roach, and Thomas D. Stevens. By June 20, 1811, when Henry Griffin bought lot No. 12 on the town plat at auction for $88.50 paid to the trustees, he was required to build "a House thereon Twelve feet Square or equal thereto with a Stone or Brick Chimney to the same and a Shingle Roof on it within Four years of the Day of the Sale of the said lott." Due to its favorable location on the Vestal's Gap Road, the town grew quickly and in the early 1800s was one of the leading trade centers of western Loudoun, along with Snickerville (Bluemont) and Woodgrove, which has since disappeared. Much of Hillsboro's activity was due to its mills, with as many as five operating at one time, all on Catoctin Creek or its nearby branches."