From their storied pasts to the present day, the Fauquier County towns of Remington, Bealeton and the many unique crossroad communities in the surrounding region have been characterized by their rural charm. And for decades, The Piedmont Environmental Council has been committed to collaborating with these local communities on conservation, land use planning, historic preservation and public access to nature. But as pressure for massive data center complexes spreads beyond Northern Virginia into the Piedmont’s special rural communities, we worry the progress and investments we and many others have made toward conserving, enhancing and preserving these communities will be lost forever.

1990s |  PEC opposed the Fauquier Forward plan that would have widened Virginia State Route 28 and replaced the agricultural economy through that area with suburbs. Instead, we advocated for an alternative vision of conservation and helped create the county’s Purchase of Development Rights program, which pays landowners to relinquish development rights on their properties, thus supporting farmers, preserving the environmental and economic benefits of agriculture and preventing costly sprawl. Since then, Fauquier’s PDR program has become a model for other places, creating an important tool for landowners who want to keep their land in farming.

2006 |  PEC helped the county acquire Rappahannock Station Battlefield Park, preserving this critical battlefield for a future public park and recreation area near the town of Remington. PEC supported development of a master plan for the park and continues to advocate for walking trails and interpretive signage that will tell the important history of the town and this historic battlefield.

2017 |  In support of Remington’s effort to strengthen tourism and enhance pedestrian safety, PEC received a PATH Foundation grant to develop a plan called Remington Walks. This plan to rejuvenate Main Street with walking trails, town signage, pedestrian-friendly connectivity and more was developed with input gathered during community meetings and walking audits with residents. Remington Walks was adopted into Remington’s comprehensive plan and has been a guide and supportive document for several subsequent projects, including a gazebo next to the town hall, completed trail connections to Margaret Pierce Elementary and an improved railroad crossing accessible for strollers and wheelchairs downtown.

2021 |  PEC and numerous partners set about creating an Upper Rappahannock River Water Trail that provides much-needed public access at several points along this Virginia-designated scenic river. In August 2021, we helped cut the ribbon on the new Rector Tract public canoe and kayak launch a short walk from downtown Remington. Open dawn to dusk, this launch closes a 25-mile gap in public access to the river between Riverside Preserve and Kelly’s Ford in Culpeper County.

2021 |  Waterloo Bridge over the Rappahannock River is the uppermost point of the historic Rappahannock Canal, an important historic resource and a unique community treasure. Built in 1878, it was closed in 2014 and slated for replacement by the Virginia Department of Transportation. Advocating for its restoration, rather than replacement, PEC invested in a consultant to put forward a restoration alternative, held numerous community meetings, pushed VDOT to consider other options, and, with the financial help of the Hitt family, was able to fully restore the oldest metal truss bridge still standing in Virginia today.

2021 |  PEC established a native plant garden at C.M. Crockett Park in Midland. As a part of our efforts to promote native landscaping practices, we applied for a grant from Kortlandt Fund of the Northern Piedmont Community Foundation to purchase the native plants for the project. We also designed the garden and worked with the Fauquier Parks and Recreation Department and community volunteers to install it.

The network of support to conserve, enhance, and preserve Remington and southern Fauquier extends well beyond PEC. The local churches, the Virginia Cooperative Extension, and John Waldeck established the Remington Community Garden. The town utilized a PATH Make It Happen Grant to build a new gazebo next to the town hall. And the Remington Community Partnership — run by the tireless Mary and Ray Root — has worked to document, preserve and promote the historic resources of the town. Countless people have led numerous other projects, but a comprehensive list could take up the entire publication! 

Remington and its surrounding areas are at the intersection of two very different futures. The tremendous work we’ve all already done together paves a path that retains the region’s rural charm, agricultural heritage and economy, and promise of a vibrant place for visitation and recreation. 

This progress is threatened by pressure from multiple data center proposals that could put more industrial development in the quaint town of Remington than all the commercial space in Fauquier County combined. Together these projects would open a floodgate of new transmission lines, substations, construction traffic, air pollution, noise, and massive concrete computer warehouses that will crowd out other forms of investment and business interest and induce even more industrial sprawl. 

Before our county leaders make major decisions that will forever alter a critical piece of Fauquier’s rural identity and economy, it’s important to revisit and remember the investments and community accomplishments made in the face of past development pressures that would have transformed this region.

This article appeared in the 2025 fall edition of The Piedmont Environmental Council’s member newsletter, The Piedmont View. If you’d like to become a PEC member or renew your membership, please visit pecva.org/join.