Leesburg is a historic town in Loudoun County, Virginia and is 33 miles northwest of Washington, D.C. Leesburg is located in the northern Virginia Piedmont area known as the Culpeper Basin. Leesburg sits along the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Catoctin Mountain and adjacent to the Potomac River. According to the most recent census, the population of Leesburg is 52,607. Leesburg has a total area of 12.5 square miles and its elevation ranges from 350-400 ft. The main drainage is Tucarora Creek and Town Branch which empties into Goose Creek.
Leesburg is the northwestern terminus of the Dulles Greenway, a toll road connecting Dulles Toll Road at Washington Dulles International Airport. Like the rest of the towns in Loudon County, Leesburg has seen considerable growth over the last few decades. What was once a small rural town has turned into a suburban community for DC commuters. Most of its growth is concentrated along the Dulles Greenway and State Route 7, which parallels the Potomac River between Winchester and Alexandria. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Washington Air Route Traffic Control Center is located in Leesburg, Virginia.
There are four public high schools and several private schools in Leesburg. The town also has a volunteer fire company, rescue squad, and is served by a town police department. The Leesburg Executive Airport at Godfrey Field provides private and corporate aircraft services to Loudoun County. The National Conference Center, a major government and corporate training facility, is in Leesburg, which was built by Xerox in the ’70s. In the southeast part of Leesburg’s Historic District is Market Station, which offers high tech offices, retail shops, and restaurants that are housed within restored historic buildings.
On the north side of Leesburg is Ida Lee Park, 141 acres which used to be Greenwood Farms but was donated to the town. Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Trail is a 45 mile trail constructed by the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority that is great for hikers, bikers, and joggers. Located east of Leesburg is Red Rocks Wilderness Overlook Regional Park, 67 acres of woodlands and 2 miles of trails. The Rust Manor House and Nature Sanctuary is on the west side of Leesburg at the foot of the Catoctin Mountain and has a nature reserve that is ran by the Audubon Naturalist Society of the Central Atlantic States.
