“Do you know the story?” asks Kate Magennis Wyatt, a Waterford resident who tells the most widely known, if debated, account of the name change. “A wild Irishman who came after [the town] was settled convinced everybody to change the name from Janney’s Mill to Waterford.” Wyatt is referring to Thomas Moore, who may or may not have come from Waterford, Ireland, and who may or may not have had a pleasant epiphany that the prosperous and lively little mill town—the “rising city” in northeast Virginia—was so special that it should be named after his family’s native Ireland.
Ann Belland, president of the Waterford Citizens Association, says of Moore and the provenance of the town’s name, “I mean, why not? He came here; he had a lot of money, he bought a lot of land, and he had the right to do whatever he wanted to do.” Belland, like Wyatt and most Waterford residents, speaks of historical events and people with a certain logical ease, as if discussing the village’s many stories—enough to fill a textbook—is second nature.
To those who are familiar with Waterford, including its residents and those with an eye on historic preservation and the nation’s agricultural heritage, this village near the south fork of Catoctin Creek is indeed a special place. To a newcomer, the village of Waterford is an enchanted collection of historic buildings concentrated along a handful of streets that gently slope down onto the two central drags of Second and Main streets. Most were built in the early 19th century and created a thriving mercantile district of taverns, livery stables, tanneries, a forge, a hardware store, a bank, and a woolen factory. At one point dozens of mills—the small business of choice in the early 1800s—could be found along the creek. Today, nearly two centuries later, these impeccably-preserved structures are mostly homes, with the occasional art gallery and just one general store.
Waterford was founded by Bucks County, Pennsylvania Quakers, mainly the Amos Janney and Francis Hague families (their wives were sisters) who bought up most of the land only to eventually sell it off when they died. In that way the settlement evolved into a major town. Janney, a surveyor for Lord Fairfax, was a businessman. He built a grist and sawmill using water power drawn from the nearby creek, knowing there was a profit to be made as a miller. His family would expand the mill enterprise significantly, assuring the town’s rapid growth. In its prime, Waterford was the second largest commercial center in Loudoun County. An 1830s Virginia paper described Waterford as “a fine flourishing little village surrounded by wheat and corn land equal to any in the state.”
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