The Settles, a white family, originally owned the building before willing it in the late 1880s to the Deans, an African- American family formerly enslaved by the Settles. The house was in extremely poor condition when Toll Brothers acquired the property, located in what is now South Riding, in the 1990s. “They lived in the cabin as slaves and continued to live in it as free blacks," said Arlean Hill, a historian from Chaptico, Md. who is related to the Deans and an expert on Loudoun slavery. Despite the condition of the structure, members of the local community urged the Board of Supervisors to save the building. A subsequent proffer agreement was reached requiring the developer to dismantle the original log house and relocate it a few hundred feet on the west side of Loudoun County Parkway. The one-and-a-half story log cabin (originally across Loudoun County Parkway) dates back to the first quarter of the 19th century and continued to be a residence for members of the Dean family into the 20th century. It is now owned by the County of Loudoun.
The Conklin Colored school remained in at least partial operation through the 1952/53 academic year,
ReplyDeleteThe Settles, a white family, originally owned the building before willing it in the late 1880s to the Deans, an African- American family formerly enslaved by the Settles. The house was in extremely poor condition when Toll Brothers acquired the property, located in what is now South Riding, in the 1990s. “They lived in the cabin as slaves and continued to live in it as free blacks," said Arlean Hill, a historian from Chaptico, Md. who is related to the Deans and an expert on Loudoun slavery. Despite the condition of the structure, members of the local community urged the Board of Supervisors to save the building. A subsequent proffer agreement was reached requiring the developer to dismantle the original log house and relocate it a few hundred feet on the west side of Loudoun County Parkway. The one-and-a-half story log cabin (originally across Loudoun County Parkway) dates back to the first quarter of the 19th century and continued to be a residence for members of the Dean family into the 20th century. It is now owned by the County of Loudoun.
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