One of the oldest on the line, Hamilton's train station dates from 1870. It was not in the original plan. When the Alexandria, Loudoun & Hampshire Railway (later the Washington & Old Dominion) was established in the 1840s, its owners intended to head the tracks westward along present Route 9 (Charles Town Pike), across the Blue Ridge at Keyes Gap, and on to the Ohio Valley coal country.
The railroad reached Leesburg by 1860. Construction and operations ceased during the Civil War. By the time the railroad was up and running again, ownership had changed and so had the destination. The new route through western Loudoun County was slightly to the south of the original one, heading toward Snicker's Gap and sparking the growth of towns including Hamilton, Purcellville, Round Hill, and Bluemont. Unlike the other towns, however, Hamilton grew up along the automobile turnpike (Route 7) rather than along the railroad.
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