Waterloo is a village in

Fauquier County, Virginia Fauquier is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 72,972. The county seat is Warrenton. Fauquier County is in Northern Virginia and is a part of the Washington metropolitan area. History In 160 ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, straddling the

Rappahannock River The Rappahannock River is a river in eastern Virginia, in the United States, approximately in length.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 It traverses the entir ...

at its confluence with Carter's Run.

History

The village has existed since at least 1749, when the decision was made to build a road from Warrenton (about east) to serve the growing number of farms along the river. With Fauquier County on the north side and Culpeper County on the south side, Waterloo is surrounded by relatively flat tracts of arable land. In 1829, construction began on a

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

to eventually connect Waterloo with Fredericksburg, about to the southeast. Finished in 1849, the canal included 44

locks Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

and 20 dams, with of dug canal. Commercial activities in Waterloo began to thrive as the canal was constructed, because the water also could power mills. Eventually there was a sawmill, a clothing mill, a blacksmith, and a plan for a group of shops and factories on the Fauquier side to serve the community and the canal. However, when the Orange and Alexandria Railroad commenced operation in 1852, canal traffic rapidly declined, and venture ceased to operate in 1853. During the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, both Northern and South soldiers at various times occupied Waterloo. In 1861, CSA General Stonewall Jackson defeated USA General James Shields in an early skirmish; Shields' troops crossed the Waterloo Bridge from Culpeper to Fauquier on his retreat back to Washington, and in March 1862 he would return to help hand CSA General Jackson a rare tactical defeat at the

Battle of Kernstown I The First Battle of Kernstown was fought on March 23, 1862, in Frederick County and Winchester, Virginia, the opening battle of Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's campaign through the Shenandoah Valley during the American ...

(about to the north). On August 22, 1862, General J. E. B. Stuart's army started its ride around the army of USA General John Pope Pope in Waterloo. Stuart's force captured Pope's headquarters wagons and destroyed Union supplies and army material, shortly before the

second battle of Manassas The Second Battle of Bull Run or Battle of Second Manassas was fought August 28–30, 1862, in Prince William County, Virginia, as part of the American Civil War. It was the culmination of the Northern Virginia Campaign waged by Confederat ...

. By war's end, all but a couple of Waterloo's buildings were destroyed or dismantled. See also " Battle of Rappahannock Station I". The current Waterloo Bridge was constructed in 1878http://www.virginiadot.org/projects/culpeper/waterloo.asp for $7,050 by the Virginia Bridge and Iron Company. A one-lane, wrought iron bridge, it may be the oldest such bridge in Virginia. The counties of Fauquier, Culpeper, and Rappahannock all contributed to the funding, in order to enable local farmers and merchants to deliver goods to market. U.S. Route 211 was routed across the bridge from 1926 until about 1930.

Modern

Today, all that remains of the once busy nexus of commerce is a one-lane bridge, a home built around 1830 by John Spillman Armstrong, and the Waterloo Post Office (now a private residence) built on the Culpeper side in 1870 by Armstrong under contract to the U.S. Post Office. Local residents believe the post office was built by the U.S. government as a way of re-establishing its authority following the Civil War.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 38, 41, 45, N, 77, 54, 22, W, type:city_region:US-VA, display=title Populated places in Fauquier County, Virginia