Hopewell, also known as Hopewell Mills and Hopewell Farm, was established around 1765 by William Little, Sr., who built grain and saw mills near the Shenandoah River. In 1827, William Little, Jr. sold the property to James Hite and Jacob Newcomer. Hite named the property "Hopewell", identifying the mill with a place in Leetown also named Hopewell, where there was a Quaker meeting house. Hite's descendant, Thomas Hite Willis, operated and expanded the mill, adding a woolen mill. The woolen mill operated until the 1920s providing uniforms for the Army.