The Falls Church Village Preservation and Improvement Society (VPIS) is pleased to be able to reprint A Virginia Village by Charles A. Stewart as part of its Centennial observance in 1985. We are especially grateful to the Mary Riley Styles Public Library of Falls Church for permission to use their copy of A Virginia Village for the reproduction. A Virginia Village provides a snapshot of Falls Church at the turn of the century, at a time when the predecessor of VPIS, the Village Improvement Soci

In 1985, its Centennial Year, the Falls Church Village Preservation and Improvement Society comprises over 750 citizens and businesses dedicated to improving the quality of life in Falls Church. The Society recognizes that it is the inheritor of the civic purposes and activities of the Village Improvement Society (VIS) of Falls Church established in 1885 and which group was modeled after the famous Laurel Hill Association of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and that VPIS' purposes, objectives and act

Charles A. Stewart's A Virginia Village is a charming depiction of the early days of Falls Church. It is the earliest attempt to put on paper the story of the Falls Church area. In addition to interesting stories about people and organizations and life generally in the small town of 80 years ago, the book contains photographs of 107 Falls Church houses, stores, and churches then standing. Reading it is a trip into nostalgia for old-timers—but the book is more than nostalgia. It pictures many ele

Charles Alexander Stewart (1860-1950), who is best remembered in Falls Church for his estimable little book, A Virginia Village , which was published in 1904, was born at "Beechwood," the Stewart family farm at the intersection of the Dismal Swamp and Northwest Canals. He was the fourth in a family of five. His father, William Charles Stewart (1810-1865), died at "Beechwood." In 1887 Charles A. Stewart married Mary Isabella Tabb (1866-1939), daughter of Dr. Robert Bruce Tabb (1833-1906) and Eliz

These comments provide information on the present status of the 107 structures pictured. They are arranged in sequence by item numbers, which correspond to the page numbers in the original book, and repeat the names exactly as given. The people named were the owners of the structures pictured. Present street addresses are given when the building is still standing. In the case of the 57 buildings now gone (they are marked by asterisks), the former or present street address is usually not known, a

PRESS OF J. H. NEWELL FALLS CHURCH, VA. 1904 [Pg xxviii]...

In preparing this little book it has been the aim of the Editor to obtain facts of the early history, as well as to set forth what changes time has wrought in the erstwhile veritable hamlet of years gone by. To this end he has exerted every effort in the examination of records, that authentic data only, in describing the old church and village, may appear in these pages. Aside from the descendants of the old settlers, the heads of many households in the village of Falls Church have left kindred

Introductory. Falls Church, while a Virginia village, is thoroughly cosmopolitan. According to a recent census only about fifty per cent. of its inhabitants are natives of Virginia, the rest coming from the various States of the Union or from foreign countries. Falls Church might properly be called a national village, since its citizens are chiefly employees of the government, and the interests of its eleven hundred people naturally center at the National Capitol. Every geographical section of t

Falls Church is an incorporated town of about eleven hundred inhabitants. Endowed by State law with the name of town when a mere hamlet, it is still "the village" to its citizens. It is situated on the Bluemont branch of the Southern Railway 9 miles from Alexandria, and 45 miles from Bluemont at the foot of the Blue Ridge. An electric railway connects it with Georgetown, D. C., 6 miles distant, and it is 13 miles over the Southern Railway to the business center of Washington. Located originally

The original church at the Falls is said to have been built in 1709. This is only tradition, as no satisfactory evidence has been obtained relating to its exact location or the date when first erected. Court records establish the fact that there was a church on the present site of the Falls Church in 1746. On March 20th of that year John Trammell, in consideration of the sum of fifty shillings sterling, transferred, by deed of bargain and sale, to the Vestry of Truro Parish in Fairfax County a c

In May, 1861, the Union troops moved into Virginia and occupied Arlington Heights and Alexandria. On June 1 an engagement at Fairfax Court House between a company of Union cavalry and Confederate troops resulted in the loss of six Union and twenty Confederate soldiers. The Union forces under General McDowell occupied the town of Fairfax about the middle of July, inaugurating the first Bull Run Campaign. The battle of Bull Run was fought July 21, 1861. After the first battle of Bull Run, a system

The Presbyterian Church. One of the most attractive church edifices in the village of Falls Church is the Presbyterian Church, a picture of which is shown on page 5. It was built in 1884, being formally dedicated in October of that year. The building now used by the Sunday School of the church, which was built before the civil war by Dr. Simon J. Groot, as a hall for religious and secular public meetings, was purchased and formally dedicated as a church November 20, 1866. Since that date the pas

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The Bivouac of the Nation's Dead, on the banks of the beautiful Potomac For detailed information in regard to movement of trains or freight and passenger rates apply to the officers of the company. Manager Falls Church Improvement Company Notary Public for Fairfax and Alexandria Counties...

FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA Houses shown on pages 20, 35, 55, 58, 69 and 93 were built by Mr. Hillier, besides many others in Falls Church and vicinity, including St. James Catholic Church and parsonage at Falls Church and the Catholic Church and parsonage at Fortress Monroe, Va....

R. WALTON MOORE, President        Dr. M. BROOKS, Vice-President JAMES W. BALLARD, Cashier R. WALTON MOORE     JOS. E. WILLARD     F. M. BROOKS     M. E. CHURCH E. R. SWETNAM     M. D. HALL     S. R. DONOHOE C. VERNON FORD     T. B. PUTNAM Deposits solicited. Negotiable paper discounted. We have unsurpassed facilities for making collections. Collections made free of charge to depositors. Every accommodation consistent with prudent business methods will be extended to our patrons. Small deposits r

We doubt if there is a better laundry in the country than the French Steam Laundry. By best, we mean the quality of work done and the care exercised to guard the interest of patrons. We have become one of their authorized agents, and before accepting the agency, satisfied ourselves as to the superior excellence of this laundry's service. F. P. WELLER, Druggist 3534 M Street Northwest "Right by the Aqueduct" There is nothing that costs so little and gives such returns as poultry. For the past ten

Bread and orders delivered daily without extra cost, at all residences in Falls Church, Vienna, Dunnloring, Lewinsville, Langley, Ballston, Bailey's X Roads, Halls Hill and Merrifield. Waiting Room and Ticket Office 3528 M St. N. W., Washington, D. C. For further information apply to any agent of Company F. B. Hubbell, V-Prest. and Manager       T. Garrett, Pass. Agent The illustrations in the original were damaged, but all have been placed after improving as much as was possible....