Bluemont, Virginia

Bluemont is an unincorporated village in Loudoun County, Virginia located at the eastern base of Snickers Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The village's center is located along Snickersville Turnpike (Virginia Route 734), 4 miles (6.4 km) west of the incorporated town of Round Hill.

The village borders Virginia's fox hunting country and is within 1 mile (1.6 km) of the Appalachian Trail and the Bears Den and Raven Rocks formations in the Blue Ridge.

The completion of the Leesburg and Snickers Gap Turnpike in 1832 (present day Virginia State Highway 7) brought new prosperity and prestige to the community, and the last major growth it would see for the next half-century.

The lure of the Blue Ridge some four miles west prompted a livery service to run from Snickersville to Round Hill to pick up travelers and take to them to one of the several hotels that began to spring up in and about the town.

In 1900, the success of the resorts in the vicinity of Snickersville, including Jules DeMonet's Blue Ridge Inn at Bear's Den, prompted the Southern Railway (which had acquired the Washington & Ohio's route) to extend its tracks to the town, which became the final western terminus of line.

In 1939, deteriorating conditions on a trestle immediately east of Round Hill, combined with a lack of rail traffic, led to the abandonment of the line between Purcellville and Bluemont.

It features juried crafters, a pickle and pie contest, a 10K race, and live music in a variety of styles.

In William R. Forstchen's John Matherson book series beginning with 2009's One Second After, Bluemont becomes the provisional seat of the US government following a nuclear electromagnetic pulse attack.

Map of Virginia highlighting Loudoun County