In 2017, the Civil War Trust and the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Transportation transferred properties to NOVA Parks, creating a 20-acre battlefield park at the site of the Battle of Upperville, fought here and on nearby properties on June 21, 1863. This property and its scenic stone bridge were preserved through charitable donations and preservation efforts. In 1810, the Virginia Central Assembly authorized construction of the Ashby’s Gap Turnpike from Aldie to the Shenandoah River, and the bridge became part of that private toll road. In June 1863, in the weeks before Gettysburg, Lee’s army was traveling north from Richmond, and Confederate Cavalry General JEB Stuart was sent to keep Union cavalry from getting towards Ashby Gap before the Confederate army could make its way towards Maryland via the Shenandoah Valley. Roughly equal numbers of primarily cavalry forces clashed three times in four days in the battles of Aldie, Middleburg, and Upperville. On June 21, Confederate forces just west of the ridge held off a Union advance for several hours, but eventually Colonel Strong Vincent and the 20th Maine under the command of Joshua Chamberlain took the bridge and forced Stuart’s forces to regroup to the west. Just 10 days later, the Battle of Gettysburg started. Strong Vincent and Joshua Chamberlain are credited with making the key decision to hold Little Round Top, winning the battle for the Union and sealing the fate of the war. The preservation timeline includes the Goose Creek Stone Bridge being placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974; Senator John W. Warner donating 12 acres and a portion of the bridge to the Fauquier and Loudoun Garden Club in 1995; the Garden Club preserving the bridge, providing historic interpretation of the Battle of Upperville, and protecting natural resources from 1995 to 2006, with Anne MacLeod as a driving force in that stewardship; the Civil War Trust acquiring the 12 acres from the Garden Club in 2016 and later transferring that land to NOVA Parks; and the Virginia Department of Transportation transferring 7 acres east of the bridge to NOVA Parks in 2017, creating a larger park. Related battle sites also entered NOVA Parks stewardship: Aldie Mill, donated by the Virginia Outdoor Foundation in 2006, near fighting in the Battle of Aldie; Mt. Zion Historic Church, transferred by Loudoun County in 2009 and used as a hospital during these battles; and Mt. Defiance, the center of the Battle of Middleburg, acquired and preserved in partnership with the Civil War Trust in 2015.