

Lincoln Preservation Foundation
Serving the Goose Creek Historic District and Surrounding Areas
Website by Alex Dukes Design
Our Mission
Our mission is to promote public interest and involvement in protecting and preserving the historical, agricultural, architectural, and rural character of Lincoln, Virginia, the Goose Creek Historic District, and surrounding areas.
Historical resources create a distinct sense of community identity and continuity for both residents and visitors. The people, neighborhoods and communities, their relationships, their achievements and traditions; the churches, schools, homes and other buildings, bridges, other structures; the past, both historic events and individual memories, combine to form a culturally diverse heritage that is unique to the Goose Creek Historic District.
Lincoln Preservation Foundation was founded in 2000 by community members concerned about encroaching development on the Goose Creek Historic District. The District is a 10,000-acre tract of mostly fertile farmland and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It includes working farms, historic schools, churches, a century-old nursery business, and other historically and architecturally significant sites. It is also known for its scenic beauty, meandering waterways, and narrow, winding gravel roads.
About Us
Lincoln's 160th Anniversary Celebration

On July 3rd, Lincoln Preservation Foundation hosted a celebration of Lincoln's 160th Anniversary. It was on that day in 1865 that the U.S. Postal Service formally established the Lincoln Post Office.
The Post Office itself has undergone some recent updates to prepare for her big day. A new flag pole and sign were recently installed.
Members of the community joined us under the trees at the back of the meetinghouse for cake, sparkling grape juice and a brief history lesson on Lincoln's first postmaster, Rodney Davis. President Jennifer Juengling also presented Lincoln Community League President Linda Boch with a framed picture of Rodney to be hung in the Post Office.
We also introduced our Goose Creek Historic District Hometown Heroes Collector Cards. Each will feature a historic figure who lived in the historic district along with a brief biography of his or her life. This first card featured Lincoln's 1st postmaster, Rodney Davis. The front is a picture of a charcoal sketch of Rodney found in Balch Library's collections. If you were unable to attend, you can pick one up at the Post Office.
If you would like to keep up-to-date with our news and future events and where you can get the next collector card, follow us on Facebook here.
Rodney Davis
Lincoln's first Postmaster

Rodney Davis (1808-1891) was the son of Gideon and Nancy (Hughes) Davis, natives of western Loudoun County. About 1812, Gideon and Nancy moved their young family from Goose Creek, Virginia, to Maryland, and eventually settling in Georgetown, D.C., where Gideon worked as a machinist and cabinetmaker. Gideon was famous for inventing and patenting a more durable plough for heavier soils. He was considered by many a pioneer in the manufacturing of agricultural implements. An example of his plough is preserved in a collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History[1].
As a young man, Rodney followed in his father’s footsteps as a machinist. He moved to Winchester, Virginia, where he built and sold ploughs in his father’s design to customers in the region. Some of the Davis ploughs used in Loudoun County were possibly assembled by him. Many others were sold to settlers migrating west. Gideon encouraged his son to join that migration with his plough-making business, but Rodney moved back to Georgetown instead. In 1835, he married Elizabeth Boone (1812-1897), a close family friend and a distant cousin to Daniel Boone. They came to Goose Creek to live. According to local oral history, the community needed someone who could make and mend anything. Rodney set up his shop at Goose Creek. He also became the first caretaker of the Quaker meetinghouse property.
Goose Creek was home to a significant Quaker population. Known for their pacifism and strong anti-slavery beliefs, Quakers faced significant harassment in slaveholding states. For Goose Creek residents, like Rodney, who customarily sent and received their mail at Purcell’s Store in what is now Purcellville, the tensions were increasing in the years leading up to the Civil War. In response, Goose Creek Quakers petitioned Congress for a post office of their own and offered to name it after President Lincoln. Congress approved ‘the Lincoln Post Office at Goose Creek Village” and, in 1861, Rodney Davis was selected as its first postmaster. The post office would not be established and his official appointment would be delayed until after the conclusion of the Civil War. During this time, he voluntarily carried mail to and from the post office at Point of Rocks, Maryland, a strategic Union-controlled crossing.[2] It was the closest reliable location for loyal Union families to receive their mail due to the disrupted mail service caused by the hostilities. Traveling over land that was often occupied by the two opposing armies, Rodney risked his own life to preserve a vital link of communication with the North. Finally, on 3 July 1865, he was officially appointed postmaster and Goose Creek became known as Lincoln. Rodney served continuously until 1889.
In addition to being remembered as a devoted public servant with the United States Postal Service, he also volunteered to teach the newly emancipated at the Lincoln Colored School, and he was an active member of the temperance movement to abolish alcohol consumption. But perhaps one of the most profound sources of information on Rodney’s life can be found in the condolence letters sent to his wife, Elizabeth, upon his death in 1891. He was described as a father figure, a best friend, so dear and indulgent, someone who had a kind word for all and was ever ready to help others. J.L. Holmes of Iowa City, Iowa, wrote “I can imagine how much he is missed – so many years of kindness and usefulness. He will be remembered. No doubt history of his life will be repeated to many of the young in that old neighborhood with the hope that they may follow the example set by him.”[3]
We owe Rodney Davis a huge debt of gratitude. The Lincoln Post Office today is a valued part of our local history, cultural heritage, and village identity. It is a geographic and social center, a gathering place for neighbors near and far, where community pride and connectiveness is still fostered.
[1] USNM 161555, Gift of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
[2] Loudoun Discovered, Volume 4, Eugene M. Scheel
[3] Rodney and Elizabeth Davis Papers (M 023), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.
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