Airmont, Virginia

Though the crossroads location of Airmont had hosted a collection of dwellings and a general store since not long after the opening of the Snickersville Turnpike, it was not considered a village nor called Airmont until 1897 when the United States Post Office established a branch there. As was tradition, the first post-master of the office was allowed to name it. In this case, the honor went to Lucien Powell, a renowned landscape painter who gave the village its name for its scenic westward views and in deference to the village of Philomont, named by an unknown Italian painter. Powell, himself, could be considered a native of Airmont, having been born a few miles southeast. The post office at Airmont did not last long, falling victim to Rural Free Delivery in 1912. In its short life the post office greatly helped the small village grow, reaching a population of 25 by 1908, prompting the establishment of a school the following year. Like most small villages in western Loudoun, Airmont began a slow decline during the Great Depression. The school closed in 1931 and many of its historic buildings were destroyed by fire or torn down through the years. The general store alone has survived, albeit through several intermittent incarnations.

• Scheel, Eugene. Loudoun Discovered - Communities, Corners & Crossroads. A series of five volumes. Friends of the Thomas Balch Library. Leesburg, Virginia. 2002.