Lanesville Historic Area

Lanesville Historic Area. . The story of Lanesville began centuries before this house was built. Vestal's Gap Road, which runs across the park and in front of the house, began as an Indian trail used frequently for hunting and trading. The earliest documented use by colonists was in 1692. Settlement of the area begain in 1722., Claude Moore Park is located on portions of two land grands made by Lord Fairfax in 1729. The western section, where the Visitor Center is located, was granted to Robert Carter, Jr. Land east of the stream that runs under Vestal's Gap Road, including the location of the Lanesville House, was granted to sisters Frances and Elizabeth Barnes., William Lane purchased the land from the King sisters (the Barnes sisters married King brothers) in 1779 and built the earliest portions of this house. Keturah Lane, niece of William, married John Keene, and they operated the Lanesville Ordinary and Post Office from their home during the period of 1808 through 1817. "Ordinary" is a southern term for an inn, which generally had one public room where family-style meals and drinks were served. Patrons slept in the extra beds upstairs or on cornhusk mats on the floor. The ordinary also offered feed and pasturage for the patrons' horses. John Keene passed away in 1814 and Keturah married Benjamin Bridges; from 1817 until the mid-1820s, they continued to operate the Lanesville Ordinary and Post Office. As both an ordinary and local post office, Lanesville was a center of social activity in eastern Loudoun County., Leesburg Turnpike was finally opened through to Leesburg in 1825. This removed all but local traffic from Vestal's Gap Road. Improved wagons also made it possible for travelers to go longer distances without stopping for the night, reducing the need for frequent ordinaries., Vestal's Gap Road and the Lanesville Historic Area are listed on the National Register of Historic Places maintained by the National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior.