The Red Fox Inn & Tavern
Middleburg VA
2011

https://www.redfox.com/

https://visitmiddleburgva.com/


Welcome to Middleburg
Middleburg, Virginia, is a charming Southern destination known as the nation’s horse and hunt capital. Set against the backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Middleburg offers the best of small-town America: local art, historic landmarks, fine cuisine and one-of-a-kind boutiques. Middleburg is a place where you can enjoy world-class equestrian competitions, award-winning local wines and nationally recognized community events. Visit and discover the spirit of Middleburg.

Middleburg was established in 1787 by American Revolutionary War Lieutenant Colonel and Virginia statesman John Leven Powell, who purchased the property from Joseph Chinn, a cousin of George Washington. Powell changed the name from “Chinn’s Crossroads” to Middleburg because the town was the halfway point between Alexandria and Winchester along the popular Ashby Gap trading route, along what is today Rte. 50.

The lawn ornament, popular in certain parts of the United States and Canada in years past, was a cast replica, usually about half-scale or smaller, generally of a man dressed in jockey's clothing and holding up one hand as though taking the reins of a horse. The hand sometimes carries a metal ring (suitable for hitching a horse in the case of solid concrete or iron versions) and, in some cases, a lantern, which may or may not be operational.

Originally a welcoming symbol to guests and providing to those on horseback a practical and novel hitching post, later statues eventually became only decorative and not well suited for hitching a horse, often favored by those wishing to evoke an Old South or equestrian ambiance.

A 1947 magazine advertisement uses two images of cavalier-style lawn jockeys to underscore the statue's use as a symbol of the hospitality associated with Old Taylor Kentucky Bourbon, stating: "Jockey hitching posts that invited guests to tarry are an old Kentucky tradition – another sign of a good host."