Falls Church | |
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| Location | 115 E. Fairfax St.,Falls Church, Virginia |
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| Coordinates | 38°52′51″N77°10′16″W / 38.88083°N 77.17111°W /38.88083; -77.17111 |
| Area | 0 acres (0 ha) |
| Built | 1767 (1767) |
| Architect | Col.James Wren |
| NRHP reference No. | 70000870[1] |
| VLR No. | 110-0001 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | February 26, 1970 |
| Designated VLR | December 2, 1969[2] |
The Falls Church is an historicEpiscopal church, from which the city ofFalls Church, Virginia, nearWashington, D.C., takes its name. Established in 1732, the parish in 1769 built a brick church building that remains in use today.
The forerunner to the Falls Church appears to have been founded by landowner William Gunnell, who had moved fromWestmoreland County, Virginia, in 1729. In the spring of 1730, he secured a minister and convened a congregation, which met in his home until 1733, when the first building was constructed.[3] Until that time, this area was served by a clergyman who lived near present-dayQuantico, and the nearest church wasPohick Church nearLorton.
Known as "William Gunnell's Church", the new wooden structure was designed and built by Colonel Richard Blackburn, who was directed to construct a weatherboarded building forty feet by twenty-two feet, with a 13:12pitch roof, and with interior work modeled on that of Pohick Church; the cost was 33,500 pounds of tobacco. Like Pohick Church, the new church servedTruro Parish, which had been established by the colonial Virginia Assembly in May 1732 for the land north of theOccoquan River; Truro's firstvestry met in November 1732. Michael Reagan allowed the church to be built on his land, but failed to grant the deed. John Trammell later bought the land and, in 1746, sold the two acre lot, including the church, thechurchyard, and a spring, to the vestry of Truro Parish. By this point, it was known as the Upper Church.[3]
The Vestry Book first referred to it as the "Falls Church" on November 28, 1757, owing to its location at the intersection of the road to theLittle Falls of thePotomac River (upstream of theChain Bridge) and the Middle Turnpike (leading from Alexandria to Leesburg, now Virginia Route 7 or Leesburg Pike, called West Broad Street in downtownFalls Church City).[3]
George Mason was electedvestryman in 1748, as wasGeorge Washington in 1762.[3]
By 1762, the wood building had fallen into decay and the vestry ordered a new brick building to be constructed on the same site. The next year, George Washington and George William Fairfax, as church wardens, assumed responsibility to contract for the new building. After 1765, this church became the seat of the new Fairfax Parish.[4][5]
The new church was designed by ColonelJames Wren, a member of the vestry. Work commenced in 1767 and completed in late fall 1769.[3] Wren, a slaveowner, usedenslaved people to do the work.[6]
The Wren building remains on the site, between S. Washington, E. Broad, and E. Fairfax Streets. The 1769 structure is the oldest remaining church building north of Quantico in Virginia and is one of theoldest church structures in the United States.
The Fairfax Militia recruited from the church during theRevolutionary War, and it is said that at the war's end, theDeclaration of Independence was read to citizens from the steps of the south doors. In 1784, theCommonwealth of Virginia revoked the status of theAnglican Church as state church. In 1789, the Falls Church was abandoned[3] and remained unoccupied for almost 50 years; in 1836, it was reoccupied by an Episcopal congregation.[7]Francis Scott Key was alay reader of this congregation, as was Henry Fairfax, who used his own funds to restore the building during 1838 and 1839.
During theAmerican Civil War the church was used byUnion troops as a hospital and later as astable. Use of the building for worship services resumed after the war; the sanctuary has now been in continuous use since about 1873. The interior was repaired after the war, with theFederal government paying for damage caused by Union forces. Some of these repairs can be discerned in brickwork below the windows and in the lower part of the brick doorway at the west end of the church.
The church was remodeled in 1908 and extensively renovated in 1959. Galleries in Wren's original design but never constructed were installed, and a new chancel was added. Other than repairs of war damage and the chancel addition, the structure reflects the original 1769 construction.
Between 2006 and 2014 the congregation became divided onreligious issues, and the buildings and property of the congregation became the subject of protracted litigation.[8]
In December 2006, about 90% of the congregation voted to disaffiliate from theEpiscopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA) (a member of theAnglican Communion), and join theConvocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA).[9][10][11] The minority group reorganized itself as the Falls Church (Episcopal), and began holding services across the street at Falls Church Presbyterian Church. The disaffiliating majority renamed itselfthe Falls Church (Anglican) and continued to worship at the Falls Church property, and later petitioned a local court to transfer ownership of the property to CANA. TheEpiscopal Diocese of Virginia, ofthe Episcopal Church, intervened in the case and resisted the transfer. After a series of trial court rulings and appeals, the Virginia Supreme Court affirmed a trial court decision that left the church property in the hands of The Episcopal Church.[12][13][14]
The Episcopal parish returned to worshiping at the historic property, and the Anglican parish moved to a different location. In March 2014, theU.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by the Falls Church Anglican, ending the matter.[15]
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)The breakaway group, the Falls Church Anglican, voted itself out of the Episcopal denomination in December 2006 due in part to its objection to the election of an openly-gay priest as a bishop in the denomination in 2003. It was compelled for the first time last Sunday by court rulings in January and last month (to deny a stay pending appeal) to move off the historic church campus to hold its Sunday services elsewhere.
The Falls Church
The Falls Church (Anglican)
