Leesburg is located in Loudoun County, of which it is the county seat, 21 miles NW of Arlington along Highway 15 near the Potomac River and the Chesapeake and Ohio National Historic Park in the Eastern Region of the state. One of the oldest towns in northern Viriginia, Leesburg was an outfitting post during the French and Indian War. In 1758 the House of Burgesses passes a bill authorizing the establishment of a town at the site. The National Cemetery at Balls Bluff is purportedly the smallest in the nation; surrounding the cemetery, Balls Bluff is now a regional park with hiking trails and picnicking. Since 1828 a ferry has carried passengers and freight across the quarter-mile-wide Potomac between a point northeast of Leesburg and Whites Ferry, Maryland. The General Jubal Early still crosses daily dawn to dusk. Several of Leesburg's older homes are open during Historic Garden Month in late April.