The outdoor kitchen sits next to the creek. Follow the bridge to get to the new spring house!
Dutchman’s Creek, namesake of our award-winning Dutchman’s Creek Blend, is a tributary of the Potomac River in an area over 12 square miles. The creek runs directly behind our Tasting House and the spring in our Spring House feeds into it. The Spring House was used by inhabitants of the home that is now the Tasting House to keep perishable goods cold during the hot months. Before the invention of refrigeration and without the means to ship ice blocks to keep in iceboxes, this was the most viable method of preserving goods like meat and milk. The historic George’s Mill, located just 2 miles from Hiddencroft, also used the Dutchman’s Creek to its advantage.
The name Dutchman’s Creek evolved from “Deutscher Mans”, which translates to “German Man’s”. Germans settled in the area in the 1730’s when land was no longer available for them in Pennsylvania and from southwestern Germany, near the borders of Luxembourg and France. These people, the original settlers of Lovettsville, were simple and religious people, who were valued for their excellent work ethic and craftiness, but were somewhat alienated from those who settled further north.
A shaded section of the creek, perfect for frogs and tadpoles.
One surprising and little-known resource of the creek is gold! On the eastern bank of the creek between itself and Dutchman’s Creek Road, deposits of gold have been found. The location of the gold is known officially as “Dutchman’s Creek Prospect” by the state of Virginia. Interestingly, the prospect is the only known gold deposit outside of the “Gold-Pyrite Belt” which stretches from Fairfax County to Appomattox.
A map of the Virginia-Pyrite belt.
“Gold”. Division of Geology and Mineral Resources. Web. Accessed 23 June 2017. https://www.dmme.virginia.gov/dgmr/gold.shtml
“’Loudoun Prospect’ in Loudoun, VA, Gold Occurrence”. The Diggings, 2016. Web. Accessed 10 June 2017. https://thediggings.com/mines/usgs10079780.
“Major Watersheds in Loudoun County”. Loudoun County Government. Web. Accessed 10 June 2017. https://www.loudoun.gov/index.aspx?NID=1713.
Scheel, Eugene. “Ample Land Drew German Settlers to Loudoun County”. The History of Loudoun County, Virginia. Web. Accessed 10 June 2017. http://www.loudounhistory.org/history/loudoun-german-settlers.htm.
Stewart, Jim. “Travel Through History: Lovettsville and the German Settlement”. Mosby Area Heritage Association. Web. Accessed 10 June 2017. http://www.pbase.com/mosbyheritage/germansettlement.
Sweet, Palmer C. and Palmer, James A. “Additional Gold Mines, Prospects, and Occurences in Virginia”. Virginia Minerals: Nov 1985, vol. 31, no. 4. Accessed 10 June 2017. https://www.dmme.virginia.gov/commercedocs/VAMIN_VOL31_NO04.pdf.