Resources for Bull Run Conservancy at Thoroughfare Gap

the sedimentary rocks of White Plains
the sedimentary rocks
of White Plains		 fawn
fawn		 take nothing but memories, leave nothing but deerprints...
take nothing but memories,
leave nothing but deerprints...		 beaver dam
beaver dam

(click on images for larger versions)

Topics to Explore

- how is this place protected by a "conservancy"? why? why isn't the adjacent land and the ridgetop protected? - - - - what would happen if public sewer and water were extended to the gap? how will the land between Conway Robinson State Forest and the Bull Run Conservancy develop, if public utilities are not extended?
- why doesn't the conservancy protect the mill?
- why was the mill built there? why was it expanded?
- why did the mill stop operating? why did it burn?
- how is the mill unique, compared to Aldie, Colvin Run, or Washington's Grist Mill? is that uniqueness worth the cost of restoration? should the mill be restored all the way to a working condition?
- where does "Turn the Mill Around" get funding to protect the mill? does the group qualify for Federal and State rehabilitation tax credits? why, or why not?
- is the mill on the National Register of Historic Places? what is the effect of being listed on the National Register?
- in the days before electricity, how did people in Northern Virginia get ice in the summer?
- what rocks were quarried to build the mill? why were those rocks there, and why were they easy to quarry?
- why was there a Civil War battle in Thoroughfare Gap? does it matter who won?
- does knowing the history of the place make Thoroughfare Gap more "valuable" and more worthy of protection from change?
- what sort of change to Thoroughfare Gap would be acceptable? unacceptable? would you allow I-66 to be built today?
- where does the water from thoroughfare Gap go, when it flows off the property?
- what is the difference between topsoil/subsoil/bedrock?
- does Thoroughfare Gap provide good deer habitat?
- who lived here first, before the Chapmans?

Additional Resources for Geography of Northern Virginia
Geography of Northern Virginia
Virginia Places