Located East of the Downtown Mall and flanked largely by 250 East and 20 South and more specifically “on the north by East High Street. The Rivanna River and the CSX railroad form the eastern and southern edges of the neighborhood. Meade Avenue creates the western boundary of the neighborhood (archived: 2007),” Woolen Mills is a unique part of the City of Charlottesville, with a character all its own. There is more information online about this Charlottesville neighborhood than most. Biking distance to the Downtown Mall and Pantops for shopping (although driving to Pantops would be a better route if you’re concerned with self-preservation) and a very active homeowners’ organization (not Association)
Albemarle Historical Society (archived: 2020):
“The Woolen Mills neighborhood is one of the earliest textile mill villages in the South, and though the neighborhood is threatened by development pressures, it remains largely intact,” says Historical Society executive director Dr. Douglas Day. “This exhibit is a labor of love, by a neighborhood with a mission, it is the kind of project we’d like to encourage from each of the area’s historic neighborhoods.”
Topography: Gently rolling hills, sidewalks in many places
Housing Prices: Unfortunately, there is no good way to search for homes for sale in the Woolen Mills area, other than looking at the results and knowing which streets are within the Woolen Mills ‘hood. Generally, prices range from $225k to $550k.
House Styles: More varied than most neighborhoods. Bungalow to Cottage to traditional single family to the occasional townhouse to a small new “green” development (archived: 2022).
Proximity to Green Spaces: Good. Meade Park and Riverview Park (archived: 2018) are quite close
Broadband Internet Coverage: 100%
Schools: Check out the City’s interactive map (archived: 2010), generally Woolen Mills kids will go to the Burnley-Moran elementary school.
– A recent podcast about the history of Woolen Mills
– A little bit of political controversy.
– They have their own website (no longer available).
– Charlottesville Community Design Center (archived: 2007)
– The Neighborhood Plan laid out by the City (PDF) (no longer available)
– Google MyMap of Woolen Mills
Don’t miss one of the coolest displays of housing data there is (archived: 2015), showing growth over the past 100 years.
For those residents of Woolen Mills – what do you love about your neighborhood? What would you tell to a prospective neighbor walking down the street asking questions?
Read all stories in the Charlottesville Neighborhood Series.
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Jim Duncan has been helping buyers and sellers in Charlottesville’s neighborhoods for 25 years. Get local insight born of experience.
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