Established in 1732

The Virginia Colonial General Assembly established Truro Parish in 1732. The first new church to be built in the parish was a simple wood building erected on the site of the current church. It was completed in 1734 by Richard Blackburn. Local landowner John Trammell later gave the vestry a deed for the land in exchange for fifty shillings. Until that time, this area was served by clergymen who lived near present-day Quantico, Virginia, and the nearest church was Occoquan Church near Lorton, Virginia.

The name, “The Falls Church,” came from its geographic location. Among the very few, widely separated churches in Truro Parish, this church was identified as the one “near the falls” of the Potomac River. (One of the roads that passed near the church led to the ferry below the Little Falls.) “The Falls Church” was the name commonly used after 1742. The name was also adopted by the community that developed around the church, and subsequently by the city when it was incorporated in 1948.

In 1762 the wood building was judged to be “greatly in decay.” The parish vestry (the church governing body), meeting at The Falls Church, ordered a new brick building constructed on the same site. In 1763, George Washington and George William Fairfax were appointed church wardens with responsibility to contract for a new building. This was Washington’s last official act on behalf of the church because the parish was divided in 1765 before work began. However, he was not successful in finding a contractor.  After 1765, The Falls Church became the seat of the new Fairfax Parish

Click here to download a timeline of significant events at The Falls Church.

Work on the new church was begun in 1767 under the direction of Colonel James Wren, a vestry member, who had designed the building. His plans were also used for Christ Church in Alexandria and Pohick Church near Lorton. The three Wren churches are similar in their symmetrical Georgian style. All three churches originally had box pews so that families could sit together and bring their own small fireboxes to provide heat in the winter since there was no other heat in the buildings. The new building was completed late in the fall of 1769. It is the oldest remaining church building north of Quantico in Virginia.

During the Revolutionary War, the church building was a recruiting station for the Fairfax militia. Tradition holds that the Declaration of Independence was read to local citizens from the steps of the south doors.

The Anglican Church was disestablished in Virginia in 1784; by the turn of the next century the building was virtually abandoned. In the early 1800’s, local community leaders including Francis Scott Key, an active Episcopalian who delivered occasional exhortations to the people gathered here, and Henry Fairfax, who used his own funds to restore the building, helped to re-open the doors of the church for Episcopal worship.

Several of the early students and faculty members of the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, established in 1823, traveled to The Falls Church to conduct services.

Services were again disrupted during the Civil War when the church was used by Union troops as a hospital and later as a stable. Use of the site for active congregational worship did not begin again until 1873.

The interior was renovated or repaired four times since 1800. It was repaired by Henry Fairfax in 1838–39, again after the Civil War, and was significantly remodeled in 1908. The most extensive renovations were completed in 1959. At that time, the galleries — which had been anticipated in Wren’s design, but were omitted from the original construction — were finally installed, and a new chancel was added. The structure of the church, except for repairs of war damage and the chancel addition, is the original 1769 construction.  

The United States Army repaired and paid for damages caused by Union forces during the Civil War. Some of these repairs are evident in the brickwork below the windows and in the lower part of the brick doorway at the west end of the church. (You’ll notice the brick in these locations looks slightly different from the rest of the building.)

Church Interior: The interior was renovated or repaired four times since 1800. It was repaired by Henry Fairfax in 1838-39, again after the Civil War, and was significantly remodeled in 1908. The most extensive renovations were completed in 1959. At that time, the galleries - which had been anticipated in Wren's design, but were omitted from the original construction - were finally installed and a new chancel was added. The structure of the church, except for repairs of war damage and the chancel addition, is the original 1769 construction.

West Entrance (Narthex): This entrance on Washington Street has been the main entrance most likely since the late 1830s at the time of the Henry Fairfax renovation. In colonial times, the principal entrance was by the south doors; it remained so until the interior was changed with the repairs preceding the Civil War.

Aisles: The aisles in the colonial church were in the same location as they are today, but were somewhat wider and paved with tiles. Box pews, each with a door and a slightly raised floor, were located in the center of the nave and to each side. That arrangement remained substantially unchanged until 1861. Between 1861 and 1865, the interior of the church was gutted. The present interior dates from 1959.

Baptismal font: This stone font is from the colonial period. It was taken to the Star Tavern by a Union soldier and consigned for shipment to his home around 1863. It was recognized and hidden by local townspeople, and returned to the church in 1876.

Chancel: The present chancel was built in 1959 by removing part of the original north wall. Until then, the holy table and communion rail were along that wall. Until the Civil War, colonial-era tablets with the Lord’s Prayer, Ten Commandments, and Creed hung above the altar. These, too, were destroyed during the war. The eight tiles below the present table are from the original 1769 aisles.

Pulpit location: The wide space between the two center windows in the north wall marks the location of the colonial pulpit, which was high, reached by several steps, and had a sounding board above it. In 1838, the pulpit was moved nearer the east wall in the chancel area. Its present site dates from 1959.

Education & Administration building: The addition of classrooms, office space, and Nicolson Auditorium was completed in 1959.

Gallery Level: The pipe organ, installed in 1967, is the first in this church. Built by the Schantz Organ Co., the 750-pipe instrument is divided into two sections. The great organ is exposed on the gallery rail, and the swell organ is enclosed in a case on the west wall. 

History of the Churchyard: The earliest burials on this property occurred in the 18th century, and records show payments in 1778 to the church sexton for mending gravestones. While many early 18th century landowners had family graveyards near their homes, this churchyard was the only large burial ground in the village of Falls Church for most of the 18th and 19th centuries. Church vestry minutes note many unauthorized burials throughout this period. As the graveyard became more crowded, the vestry was forced to limit burials to Episcopalians who already had family plots in the churchyard. In the late 19th century, vestry members approached the town council to ask for the creation of a town cemetery. In 1885, members of the parish helped establish Oakwood Cemetery one mile east of here, which still functions as a public cemetery today.

Memorial Garden and Chapel: In 1976, a Memorial Garden was established at the east end of the north yard for the burial of cremated remains. The people whose remains are buried here are memorialized in a large frame with individual metal name plates in the nearby cloister. The plantings in the garden represent Virginia native trees and flowers in a 19th century tradition. The small, brick Memorial Chapel, redesigned in 2004, provides a space for small worship gatherings, Bible study, or private reflection.

The Oldest TreeThe oldest tree on the grounds is a huge white oak, located in the south yard. Other large trees include a tulip poplar, hickory, silver maple, and American holly. Major trees are marked with common and botanical names.

Tour of the Gravesites: We invite you to enjoy the beauty of this historic place. The benches throughout the churchyard and Memorial Garden were gifts to the church for your comfort, relaxation, and reflection. This site has been sacred ground for centuries—the location chosen by generations as the final resting place for their loved ones. As you wander, consider the history of some of the gravesites highlighted here.

The “Hope for Tomorrow” mural commemorates the survival of a local landmark, a blacksmith shop with a history that dates to antebellum Falls Church.   Even more significantly, it features two men, one White and one Black, who operated that shop for a half century.  This building and its mural honor their success in running a successful business in the first half of the twentieth century and in establishing a bi-racial business partnership during the Jim Crow era.

The blacksmith shop, located behind The Falls Church, opened for business in 1850.  Its owner was William H. G. Lynch, and during the Civil War, the shop was a center of Confederate activity. 

​In 1906, Robert Harmon, a White man, bought the shop.  He hired Henry Simms, a skilled African- American blacksmith, to work with him.  Simms, who worked in the shop for many decades, gained a reputation for his ease with and calm handling of nervous horses. Descendants of both men still live in the Falls Church area to this day.  

This mural is a testament to both men and to the continuing struggle for equality, justice, racial harmony, and respect. 

The mural artist, David Barr, included historic and symbolic images in this work, including:

• The flames, representing struggle as well the opportunity to ignite change

• The horseshoe, a sign of the trade as well as good luck and fortune, reflects the relationship between the two men.

• The jagged edges between images and the Black Lives Matter segment are reminders that the struggles continue.

This mural was realized through the partnership between the Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation and The Falls Church.  It is part of the Tinner Hill Mural Initiative, supported by the Community Foundation of Northern Virginia and other local and regional donors.