MHAA took its original name from Confederate Cavalry officer
John S. Mosby, whose rangers fought throughout the region during the
American Civil War. During the Civil War the area was known as '''Mosby's Confederacy'''. In August 2020, the MHAA changed its name to the Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area Association. According to VPHA Chairman C. Dulany Morison, "We have decided to respectfully retire our name and adopt one that more accurately captures the broad scope of our mission to highlight all the diverse history, from the time of the Native Americans through the twentieth century, that has taken place in the heritage area." The Mosby Heritage Area, located about one hour's drive west of
Washington, D.C., is bounded by the
Bull Run Mountains to the east, the
Blue Ridge Mountains to the west, the
Potomac River to the north and the
Rappahannock River to the south. It encompasses the Virginia counties of
Loudoun,
Fauquier,
Clarke,
Warren and part of
Prince William, some . Portions of Evergreen Mill Road in
Leesburg, in the heart of the heritage area, were once part of the historic
Old Carolina Road, one of the most heavily trafficked colonial roadways in Virginia. That road originally functioned as a north–south migration route for
Native Americans, who also followed the buffalo along the route of what is now
U.S. Route 50 (John S. Mosby Highway). Route 50 and Braddock Road in colonial times were the main east–west corridors linking the port city of Alexandria to Winchester. ==Historic preservation==