85 Years Ago

Thomas Balch Library Dedicated

The Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg's history and genealogy library, was dedicated 85 years ago this month, on May 13, 1922. The library was established in the name and memory of Leesburg native Thomas Balch, a lawyer who specialized in international arbitration. Balch had gained fame as the author of the "Alabama Claims," which resulted in a $15 million settlement for the United States from Great Britain after the Civil War. The library was funded in part through an endowment established by his sons, Thomas Willing Balch and Edwin Swift Balch.

The Balch heirs stipulated only that the library house historical and genealogical material, and that a bust of their father always be located in the building’s entrance. For many years, member subscriptions funded the operations of the Thomas Balch Library. It became a full-service public library in 1960s, serving as the Leesburg branch of the Loudoun County Public Library system until the Rust Library opened in 1992. Although plans at that time called for conversion of the Thomas Balch library to a history and genealogy library, fiscal constraints led the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors to consider closing the library. Instead, the county in 1994 transferred operation of the Thomas Balch Library to the Town of Leesburg, which has operated it ever since. The original library building was designed by Waddy B. Wood, a noted Washington, D.C. architect. The library doubled in size in 2000, as the result of a major renovation project and an addition designed by Bowie Gridley. The library’s collections include more than 12,000 books, periodicals, maps, photographs, newspapers, and manuscripts. The collections center on Loudoun County, Virginia and regional history, military history (especially the American Civil War), and ethnic history. The Thomas Balch Library is also designated as an Underground Railroad research site.

This is one of a series of weekly releases from the Loudoun County Office of Public Information highlighting landmark events in the Loudoun County government during its 250-year history.

Sources:

Thomas Balch Library

Leesburg Today

"1,000 Years of Loudoun," article by Eugene Scheel in the Washington Post

Image: Thomas Balch Library, photo by Jim Barnes