Page "Winchester, Virginia" Paragraph 15

In 1756, on land granted by James Wood, Colonel George Washington designed and began constructing Fort Loudoun, which ultimately covered in present-day downtown Winchester on North Loudoun Street.

Fort Loudoun was occupied and manned with guns until the start of the American Revolutionary War.

During this era, a jail was also built in Winchester.

It occasionally held Quakers from many parts of Virginia who protested the French and Indian War and refused to pay taxes to the Anglican parish.

While their cousins in Pennsylvania dominated politics there, Virginia was an Anglican colony and did not tolerate pacifism well.

The strong Quaker tradition of pacifism against strong Virginia support for both this war and the next, led to long-term stifling of the Quaker population.

Winchester became a gateway to Quaker settlements further west ; by the mid-19th century, the Quaker population was a small minority here.