In Fauquier County, the Midland Historic District encompasses a small unincorporated village straddling a Norfolk Southern Railway line today. Midland got its start as a station established in 1873 by the Washington City, Virginia Midland, and Great Southern Railway. Its name likely derives from its position at the mid-point on the company’s rail line between Washington, D.C. and the Town of Orange in Orange County. After purchasing the land, WCVM&GS laid out the town of Midland by dividing it into small lots that it sold. About half of the surviving historic resources in the district date from between 1880 and 1910. Despite its origins, the town has no surviving railroad structures today, although the district features at least four commercial buildings, an Odd Fellows Hall, and a community cemetery established in 1905, all attesting to the town’s importance to the surrounding area. The district includes as well numerous mid-20th-century houses.