PHOTO : Willisvile Preservation Foundation
Long time Willisville School teacher , Anna Gaskins and her students in front of Willisville ’ s second school , which replaced the first school that burned . The schoolhouse stands today and is used as a residence .
before the War are living in close proximity to Willisville , likely as sharecroppers , bartering rent for labor or farm produce . Blacks were likely allowed to settle in the Willisville area as it was in a remote area on non-arable land .
Land ownership was important to the newly freed Black community as it represented a chance for Black societies to survive . Not only was the community able to worship and educate their children , but so too were they able to bury their dead in a permanent and protected space . Before the Civil War , cemeteries of the enslaved were typically in unmarked locations . The Willisville cemetery is one of the few permanently marked cemeteries for Blacks of this era . Henson Willis was the first burial in Willisville in 1874 . In all , there are three cemeteries in Willisville including the Evans Warner Family Cemetery , established in 1914 , and
the Hackely Smith cemetery in 1921 .
The 1880 census shows approximately 16 families living in Willisville , including the founding families . Willisville still did not yet have an established name ; “ Willisville ,” as a geographical description , did not appear until 1890 . Nearby farms were the main employers of the community . Many worked in the emerging horse industry , which meant steady employment and a premium wage .
In 1918 , the Willisville log structure , which served as the school , church , and center of village social life , was destroyed by fire . The community asked for what other neighboring communities had been given : a public school for their children . The Mercer School District paid for rebuilding the structure and in return , the “ neighborhood school ” became part of the Loudoun Public School System .
The community then dedicated itself to building a chapel separate from the school . In 1923 , Mary Dulany Neville donated a portion of nearby Pelham Farm to the Willisville community . The schoolhouse was rebuilt in 1921 at
PHOTOs : jane covington
The Willisville cemetery is one a few permanently marked cemeteries for Blacks of this era ; right : the Willisville Chapel .
36 wander I spring • summer 2023