This historic structure should be saved

In colonial days, transportation was slow -- though it may seem to have been faster than the current commuting pace through Tysons Corner and the construction on I-66 and the connector to the Dulles Tollway. At least, with a SmartTag account, we don't have to stop to pay the tolls.
Loudoun has several reminders of transportation in colonial times and since. Route 7 generally follows the stagecoach route between Alexandria and Leesburg. Parts of Route 7 are named "Leesburg Pike," recalling the stagecouchs that stopped at "ordinaries" such as the one that has been preserved in Claude Moore Park. Another is the Belmont Plantation where Dolly Madison escaped from the British in 1812.
We also have "Snickersville Pike," originally a toll road, connecting Aldie and its historic mill to Bluemont on Loudoun's western edge along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains. (Bluemont changed its name from "Snickersville" when the town fathers were promoting it's pleasant weather to Washingtonians seeking summertime relief from the capital's hot, muggy weather before air conditioning. Wealthy Washingtonians then traveled to Bluemont by train.)
Those "pikes" of course are short for "turnpike," and yes, there was a toll to pay to use the road whether riding in a stagecoach or on horseback.
I learned last month in the Times-Mirror that there's what's left of a "Broad Run Bridge Tollhouse" on Leesburg Pike at the north end of what is now Route 28. The tollhouse was in operation in the 1800s and remains at the north end of what's left of a bridge over Broad Run.
The Broad Run Bridge Tollhouse apparently was Virginia's only combination bridge and tollhouse; it has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1970. Unfortunately, hurricane Agnes took out the bridge in 1972.
Yesterday, I walked down to see the tollhouse. Yes, it's still there; yes it's in poor condition. The tollhouse consists of three joined segments. I couldn't see any bridge remains; the dirt road doesn't go past the tollhouse.
The structure now is just inside the eastbound turn from Route 7 onto southbound Route 28.
The property is just north of the Kincora property where developers plan more space for businesses, commercial outlets and housing, if county supervisors approve. (A vote is expected the evening of Monday, July 12.)
Kincora developers reportedly are willing to buy the property if they can turn it over to a non-profit that would restore the tollhouse, but no nonprofit has come forward with funds for restoration. Yet, it would be a shame to let this opportunity to save the tollhouse pass by.
One temporary solution might be for Kincora to buy the property, then deed it to the county for $1. That would buy time for the county to locate a nonprofit organization willing to restore the tollhouse over time.

-- martin casey