Aldie, VA

Aldie is an unincorporated community and census-designated place located between Chantilly and Middleburg in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. The 2014 census counted 11,420 residents. The historic village of Aldie is located on the John Mosby Highway in a gap between the Catoctin Mountains and Bull Run Mountains, through which the Little River flows. Aldie traditionally serves as the gateway to the Loudoun Valley and beyond. The town hosts two annual festivals: in May the Treasures on the Turnpike, and in October the Harvest Festival. Aldie has three sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A newcomer can read Aldie through the overlap of its older landmarks, surrounding geography, and current places.

For a newcomer, Aldie comes into focus through those concrete links among its past, landscape, and current routines. The Aldie CDP was first drawn prior to the 2020 census and comprises solely the historic village. The location was a natural choice, as the gap contained the intersection of the Belhaven Road between Winchester and Alexandria and the Mountain Road which ran northwest to Snickers Gap. By 1809 the Little River Turnpike was completed from Alexandria to the Mercer Mill, replacing the older rutted section of Belhaven Road.