The Mosby Heritage Area Association, the nonprofit preservation and education organization, and the America's Routes initiative have joined forces to bring attention and recognition to Loudoun County's 300 miles of historic rural roads.

Loudoun County is home to Virginia's largest network of rural roads. Many of these 300 miles of byways pre-date America itself, carved out of Virginia's hilly terrain by early settlers who helped shape our nation and communities. The roads tell the stories of pioneers, terrible wars, slavery and the struggle for freedom, the coming of the automobile, and the modern era existing beside traditional farms.

While some residents or visitors feel that dirt roads are old or neglected, the actuality is that they are authentic living artifacts that people use and need every day and have for over 300 years. As parts of the historic landscape disappear from Loudoun with development and growth, this rural road network – America's Routes -- remains unique to Loudoun County. It is ours alone.

Rather than allowing rural Loudoun and its roadways to turn into anywhere America, this initiative seeks to document, commemorate and educate about this irreplaceable resource.

To celebrate and honor this unique resource, America's Routes will create a collection of products to reach a variety of people including a photographic essay, stories of the people who live and work on these old roads, a pocket guidebook of selected tours, an authoritative historic documentation, a curriculum for use in school programs and access to all this information via social media and a dedicated website.

An independent committee within the Mosby Heritage Area Association will focus on America's Routes. The group currently comprises: Douglas Graham, international award-winning photo-journalist; Danielle Nadler, author and managing editor of Loudoun Now; Rich Gillespie, Historian Emeritus for the Mosby Heritage Area Association; Jane Covington, award-winning historic preservationist and consultant; Mitch Diamond, Retired business executive and preservationist; Emily Houston, Board member of the Loudoun Equestrian Alliance and editor of Horse Times; and Lee Lawrence, award-winning historian and author.

For more information, please visit www.americasroutes.com or call Jennifer Moore at 540-687-6681.

Donations towards the project are welcomed and a strategic fundraising effort will be launched in the coming months.

The mission of the Mosby Heritage Area Association is Preservation through Education—to educate about the history and advocate for the preservation of the extraordinary historical landscape, culture, and scenery in the Northern Virginia Piedmont for future generations.