View from the Taylorstown Bridge looking upstream at flooded Catoctin Creek during Superstorm Sandy , October 30 , 2012 . The original dam would have been in the foreground , the mill pond behind .
is it Downey Mill that the road is named for . In 1945 , Loudoun builder Claude Honicon built this as a catch basin for gravel dredged from the creek to be used for construction projects in booming postwar Northern Virginia . The New Deal and especially the Second World War led to massive home , shopping center , and road building in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington . Today the simple stone walls leave most so-called Johnstown Flood of May 1889 , but was repaired . A bridge finally came in 1908 — you can still see the old abutments . It was replaced by the current bridge in 1970 and has survived multiple floods since .
As you cross Catoctin Creek looking downstream , you ’ ll see Foxton Cottage on the far bank . This house , again with a cat slide roof , was built very shortly after Hunting Hill in the 1730s , and its original stone portion echoes its Pennsylvania routes . It is a key piece of the Taylorstown Historic District created in the 1970s .
Across the bridge , a wonderful walk follows Catoctin Creek . Turn left onto Downey Mill Road , one of
the many “ all weather surface ” gravel roads VDOT maintains in Loudoun . With the largest number of these “ dirt ” roads mileage-wise of any county in Virginia , walking Loudoun allows a step back in time . Walk a ways ; you ’ ll see why people recommend this as “ a walker ’ s road .”
Downey Mill Road has one of Loudoun ’ s most curious man-made landscapes . Just up the road you ’ ll begin to see a maze of stone walls on your left between you and the Catoctin — surely the remains of an historic building ! A fort ? A castle ? A huge monastery ? No , and neither
A section of delightful-to-walk Downey Mill Road along Catoctin Creek .
Foxton Cottage , built along Catoctin Creek shortly after 1737 . everyone intrigued , and it may be just as well most don ’ t really know what an unexciting thing it was ! It is private property and off limits . Yet from the road , it is beautiful to look at in late March through April when the interior fills with wildflowers . Most especially there are glorious bluebells ! Then you ’ ll also see a profusion of creekside
20 wander I spring • summer 2022