This historic Falls Church property was formed by joining two early 19th century houses together through a brick infill that occurred at an uncertain date. Mount Hope is at the location of an earlier historic home, a simple frame dwelling constructed shortly after an 1829 fire destroyed a previous farmhouse. The current brick house at this location was built for William A. Duncan in 1869 by local architect A. E. Lounsbury in a High Victorian style. The home once graced a farm of 216 acres, which progressively shrunk to only 10 acres by 1919 and one-quarter acre today. One of the later owners of the home was a pharmacist who manufactured a powder to treat athlete's foot in the basement of the home during the 1920s.
Cherry Hill Farm is a historic farmstead in the City of Falls Church, located just west of Washington, D.C. The property is especially relevant as it dates to the early 18th century when most of Northern Virginia was open space and Washington D.C. itself did not exist for nearly a century afterwards. Today Cherry Hill Park remains a treasured landmark to the City of Falls Church. It serves as both a historical site and as a park in the surrounding space, though the farm itself has been reduced to the barn and the house. Cherry Hill Park remains despite the numerous urbanization that has occurred in the vicinity of Falls Church in the past six decades. The property was designated a Virginia Landmark on June 19, 1973 and added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 26, 1973.
The Falls Church is a historic Episcopal church in Northern Virginia from which the City of Falls Church received its name. The original wood-framed chapel was completed in 1733, named William Gunnell's Church. Thirty-years later, the church building was deemed unsuitable for use; so George Washington and George William Fairfax took on the responsibility to contract a new building. The current building, designed by Colonel James Wren and finished in 1769, still stands to this day. During the American Revolution, the church was a recruitment station for the Fairfax militia. After the Revolution, the Falls Church was temporarily abandoned because of the disestablishment of the Anglican church in the United States. The building reopened in the 19th century as an Episcopalian church. During the Civil War, the church was occupied by both Confederate and Union troops, suffering the most damage from the Union troops as the utilized the church as a horse stable. After the war ended, restorations to the church’s interior began and services resumed. Today, the Falls Church is the oldest remaining church building north of Quantico, Virginia, and is still in use. The Falls Church was designated a Virginia Landmark on December 2, 1969 and added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 26, 1970.
This historic Falls Church farmhouse was constructed in several stages starting in 1845 and was located on the south side of the Leesburg-Alexandria Turnpike. The property's second owner, Joseph E. Birch, raised the roof to add a full second story in the 1850s. He also built additions in the 1870s and the wood trim on the front-facing gable is a Victorian-era feature that survives to this day. Birch was a Blacksmith and grew the property into a 150-acre farm by the mid-nineteenth century. The Birch House was home to three generations of the family. In 1968, the granddaughter of Joseph E. died at the home and her sibling who inherited the property decided to deed the house and surrounding lot to Historic Falls Church, Inc. in 1976. The Birch House was listed on the Virginia Landmarks and National Registers in 1977. After protective easements were put in place, the home was sold to private owners.
Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806) was a remarkable figure in U.S. history, and commemorated here at the boundary stone set after he assisted in surveying the original boundaries of the District of Columbia. Forty stones were placed around the four ten-mile edges of the original territory, each one placed at intervals of one mile. In 1976 this boundary stone was added to the List of National Historic Landmarks in Virginia.
The Eastman - Fenwick house is an Arlington County landmark and was constructed by builders for Albert Prescott ("A. P.") Eastman, a Civil War Union veteran, in 1876. The wood frame home has been largely preserved on its landscaped original lot of 1.25 acres on the north side of Lee Highway, with towering trees dating back over a century and neatly topiaried shrubs behind the original white picket fence. The property was occupied by at least three generations of the Eastman family over more than a century. A. P.'s granddaughter, Eleanor, moved into the house in 1949 with her husband, Virginia State Senator Charles R. Fenwick. The widowed Mrs. Fenwick still resided in the home when interviewed in 1979. The family retains the original plans and specs for the home as drawn up by A. P. The house and lot became an Arlington County historic overlay district in 1980.
The George Crossman House is a historic home in Arlington, Virginia. Built in 1892 by George Crossman on land purchased by his father Isaac Crossman in 1864, the home is notable for its late Victorian-era style of architecture. Its floor plan is unchanged from its original state, and the house has retained its original stained glass, interior decoration, and wraparound porch. It is only one of two extant houses in the county that were once part of dairy farms. On December 4th, 2002, it was designated on the Virginia Landmark Register, and on May 22nd, 2003, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It is currently managed and maintained by Arlington County.
The Boundary Markers of the Original District of Columbia mark the four lines which form the boundaries between Maryland and Virginia, and the 100 square miles of federal territory that became Washington, D.C. The markers were placed by a survey team led by Major Andrew Ellicott between 1791 and 1792. Thirty-six of the original marker stones are still extant and are the oldest federally-placed monuments in the country. This stone, known as the West Cornerstone and the West Jurisdiction Stone, marks the westernmost point of the diamond-shaped boundary.
This Tour is a Driving or Biking Tour.
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This short loop through historic Falls Church begins at Mount Hope and includes stops at Cherry Hill Farm, the Falls Church, Birch House, Eastman-Fenwick House, the George Crossman Home, and two of the original boundary markers for the District of Columbia.
