APHA Black AND White Overo Stallion

The community on the east fork of Simpson Creek originally grew up on sites purchased from Leven Powell's 2,000-acre (810 ha) land grant, which he received from the state of Virginia in 1779 and surveyed in 1781. The community on the east bank of the creek was known as Middlesburg when its first post office opened in 1803; the west bank was known as Gandertown from its sport of " ganderpulling". Dr. John Bemiss of Rochester, New York, had settled in the area in 1799; in 1817, he laid out the town and renamed it Bloomfield, supposedly after his wife's maiden name (Bloomer) and his daughter's married name (Merrifield). The post office adopted this name the next year, but, according to the state's Land Office, the town was still formally incorporated under the name Middlesburg in 1819.