with his son Marvin T. Broyhill as president, and cousin Thomas J. Broyhill as vice president. Between April 28 and December 29 of 1961, they purchased in 14parcels for $2,115,784. For the Hughes farm along Route7, they paid . M.T. Broyhill & Sons Corporation learned where the right-of-way for Route28 (Sully Road) would be, and hoped to develop Sterling Park on both sides of it, so they would not have to build a road through Sterling Park. However, Powell B. Harrison, who was instrumental in planning Route28, insisted that the road be kept generally free of development, for easy access to the airport. Therefore, the Broyhills developed Sterling Park east of Route28, and had to build their own through road, today's Sterling Boulevard. Marvin Broyhill, Jr.'s marketing thoughts were to "put together a prefabricated home marketed by U.S. Steel and sell it for about $17,000 $3,000 less than a comparable Fairfax County home ... All homes to have airconditioning. Homeowners to have access without membership fees to golf and tennis courts and pools." Air conditioning was uncommon in homes of that price range at the time. Broyhill's ideas, except for free golf, are realities today. As selling points, Loudoun's taxes were less than half of Fairfax's taxes, Washington was a half-hour away, and the elder Broyhill had envisioned commuter trains on the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad (which, since 1951, had carried only freight). The railroad tracks were the southern boundary of the present Sterling Park. Initially, Sterling Park residents had to be of the "Caucasian race." No board member or speaker before the board raised an objection to the clause, a common one in the United States before the 1960s, when discriminatory housing was outlawed by the Fair Housing Act, which was enacted as a follow-up to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. No African American family moved into Sterling Park until August 1966, when the illegality of the clause became apparent. By then, the population of "The Park", as it had come to be known, had reached 5,000. The Broad Run Bridge and Tollhouse, Vestal's Gap Road and Lanesville Historic District, and Arcola Elementary School are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Geography According to the USGS, Sterling has an average elevation of above sea level. The original center of Sterling is located at 39°00'22.4"N 77°25'43.0"W. Sterling is part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and Greater