For weeks now the Loudoun press and much of the county's historic preservation community has been writing and talking about the 1820 stone Toll House and bridge ruins, lying in a sad state of decay where the old Leesburg Pike crossed Broad Run Creek, near the intersection of modern routes 7 and 28.

Regardless of their views on development in general, or the Kincora development (just south of the 7/28 intersection) in particular, all agree that continued neglect of one of the country's historic treasures borders on the criminal, or at the very least, the monumentally misdemeanorous.

An appropriate, non-profit, 501.c.3 organization can surely be found, or created, to take on the project.

If such an organization steps forward, willing to restore, manage and maintain the site, the developers of Kincora have offered to advance $300,000 to pay for acquisition of the property and to build a pedestrian bridge across Broad Run to connect it to a planned trail linking the W&OD to the Potomac.

With or without Kincora, however, the Toll House needs a caretaker and benefactor. Please help. Contact your supervisor, your favorite 501.c.3, or both, and ask them to help you save the Toll House and Bridge.