Editing Falls Church, Virginia (section)

==History==

{{Main|History of Falls Church}}
The first known government in the area was the [[Iroquois Confederacy]].<ref>Bradley E. Gernand and Nan Netherton, ''Falls Church—A Virginia Village Revisited''. Virginia Beach: The Donning Company, 2000. Page 13, citing interviews with [[Fairfax County, Virginia|Fairfax County]] archaeologists Michael Johnson and Martha Williams.</ref> After exploration by [[Captain John Smith]], England began sending colonists to what they called Virginia.<ref>Gernand and Netherton, ''Falls Church'', p. 13, citing Fairfax Harrison, ''The Landmarks of Old Prince William'', pp. 143, 148.</ref> While no records have yet been found showing the earliest colony settlement in the area, a cottage demolished between 1908 and 1914, two blocks from the city center, bore a stone engraved with the date "1699" set into one of its two large chimneys.<ref>Gernand and Netherton, ''Falls Church'', p. 13, citing Melvin Steadman, ''Falls Church By Fence and Fireside'', pp. iii, x.</ref>

During the [[American Revolution]] the area is most known for the Falls Church vestrymen [[George Washington]] and [[George Mason]].<ref>Gernand and Netherton, ''Falls Church'', p. 27, citing Emily Salmon and Edward Campell, ''Hornbook of Virginia History'', pp. 27–29; Nan Netherton, ''Fairfax County'', pp. 102–103; Tony Wrenn, ''Falls Church—History of a Village'', p. 6.</ref> A copy of the [[United States Declaration of Independence]] was read to citizens from the steps of the Falls Church during the summer of 1776.<ref>Gernand and Netherton, ''Falls Church'', p. 28, citing Beekman, ''Bridges and the City of Washington'', pp. v, 1, 3.</ref>

During the [[American Civil War]] Falls Church voted 44–26 in favor of secession.<ref>Gernand, ''A Virginia Village Goes to War'', pp. 22–29, quoting Southern Claims Commission case files and ''Evening Star'' newspaper articles.</ref> The Confederate army occupied the then village of Falls Church as well as [[Munson's Hill|Munson's]] and [[Upton's Hill|Upton's]] hills to the East, probably due to their views of [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]].<ref>Gernand, pp.&nbsp;56–62, quoting ''Evening Star'', ''New York Times'' and ''Hartford Courant'' newspaper articles and regimental histories.</ref> On September 28, 1861, Confederate troops withdrew from Falls Church and nearby hills, retreating to the heights at [[Centreville, Virginia|Centreville]]. Union troops took Munson's and Upton's hills, yet the village was never entirely brought under Union rule.<ref>Gernand, ''A Virginia Village Goes to War'', pp. 98–100, quoting newspaper articles published in the ''New York Times'', ''Evening Star'', ''Elmira Weekly Advertiser'', ''Buffalo Daily Courier'', several regimental histories, and soldiers' letters home.</ref> [[Mosby's Raiders (American Civil War)|Mosby's Raiders]] made several armed incursions into the heart of Falls Church to kidnap and murder suspected Northern sympathizers in 1864 and 1865.<ref>Gernand, ''A Virginia Village Goes to War'', pp. 191–195, 200–201, 203–211, quoting Southern Claims Commission case files; books regarding Mosby's Raiders; and a local history of Falls Church which cites family members’ statements.</ref>

===Historic sites===
{{Further|Big Chimneys|Boundary Markers of the Original District of Columbia}} 
[[Cherry Hill Farmhouse]] and Barn, an 1845 [[Greek Revival architecture|Greek-Revival]] farmhouse and 1856 barn, owned and managed by the city of Falls Church, are open to the public on select Saturdays in summer.<ref>{{cite web |title=About Cherry Hill |publisher=Friends of Cherry Hill Foundation, Inc. |url=http://cherryhillfallschurch.org/?page_id=23 |access-date=July 12, 2012}}</ref> [[Tinner Hill]] Arch and Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation represent a locus of early African American history in the area, including the site of the first rural chapter of the [[NAACP]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Moreno |first=Sylvia |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1998/06/03/falls-church-recalls-role-in-naacp-history/d40c8ace-e462-495a-a52b-d99107b887e1/ |title=FALLS CHURCH RECALLS ROLE IN NAACP HISTORY |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=June 3, 1998 |access-date=December 31, 2021 }}</ref>

Two of the District of Columbia's original 1791 boundary stones are located in public parks on the boundary between Falls Church and [[Arlington County, Virginia|Arlington County]]. The west cornerstone stands in [[Andrew Ellicott]] Park at 2824 Meridian Street, Falls Church and N. Arizona Street, Arlington, just south of West Street.<ref>West cornerstone: {{Hanging indent | {{cite book|last1=Steadman|first1=Melvin Lee Jr.|title=Falls Church: By Fence and Fireside|date=1964|publisher=Falls Church Public Library}}{{rp|3}}}} {{Hanging indent |{{cite web|title=Boundary Stones of the District of Columbia|url=http://www.boundarystones.org/|website=Boundary Stones of the District of Columbia|access-date=February 19, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141227000000/http://www.boundarystones.org/|archive-date=December 27, 2014}}}} {{Hanging indent |{{cite web|title=Andrew Ellicott Park at the West Cornerstone|url=http://parks.arlingtonva.us/locations/andrew-ellicott-park-west-cornerstone/|website=Arlington County, Virginia|access-date=March 31, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961018074749/http://www.arlingtonva.us/|archive-date=October 18, 1996}}}}</ref> Stone number SW9 stands in [[Benjamin Banneker]] Park on Van Buren Street, south of 18th Street, near the [[East Falls Church station|East Falls Church]] Metro station. Most of Banneker Park is in Arlington County, across Van Buren Street from Isaac Crossman Park at Four Mile Run.<ref>Stone SW9: {{Hanging indent |{{cite web|title=Boundary Stones of the District of Columbia|url=http://www.boundarystones.org/|website=Boundary Stones of the District of Columbia|access-date=February 19, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141227000000/http://www.boundarystones.org/|archive-date=December 27, 2014}}}} {{Hanging indent |{{cite web|title=Isaac Crossman Park at Four Mile Run|url=http://parks.arlingtonva.us/locations/isaac-crossman-park-four-mile-run/|website=Arlington County, Virginia|access-date=March 31, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961018074749/http://www.arlingtonva.us/|archive-date=October 18, 1996}}}}</ref>

====Sites on the National Register of Historic Places====
{| cellspacing="2" cellpadding="2" style="width: 60%; border-style:solid; border-width:1px; border-color:gray; background:#efefef; width:810px"
|-style="background:#efefef;"
! Site
! Year built
! Address
! Listed
|-style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#dce5e5; text-align:left;"
|| [[Birch House (Falls Church, Virginia)|Birch House]] (Joseph Edward Birch House)
|| 1840
|| 312 East Broad Street
|| 1977
|-style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#dce5e5; text-align:left;"
|| [[Cherry Hill Farmhouse|Cherry Hill]] (John Mills Farm)
|| 1845
|| 312 Park Avenue
|| 1973
|-style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#dce5e5; text-align:left;"
|| [[The Falls Church]]
|| 1769
|| 115 East Fairfax Street
|| 1970
|-style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#dce5e5; text-align:left;"
|| [[Boundary Markers of the Original District of Columbia|Federal District Boundary Marker, SW 9 Stone]]
|| 1791
| style="text-align:left;"|18th and Van Buren Streets
|| 1976
|-style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#dce5e5; text-align:left;"
|| [[Boundary Markers of the Original District of Columbia|Federal District Boundary Marker, West Cornerstone]]
|| 1791
|| 2824 Meridian Street
|| 1991
|-style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#dce5e5; text-align:left;"
|| [[Mount Hope (Falls Church, Virginia)|Mount Hope]]
|| 1790s
|| 203 South Oak Street
|| 1984
|}