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2018-10-31 13 14 37 View west along U.S. Route 50 (Arlington Boulevard) from an overpass for an unnamed road just west of Virginia State Route 7 and Virginia State Route 613 in West Falls Church, Fairfax County, VirginiaPhoto: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0
DHistory
History · West Falls Church

West Falls Church’s post office opened in 1910

More historic than 8% of U.S. towns · #195 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it

Most of West Falls Church was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1962. Below: maps from 1900 on and the census since 1970.

1910first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How West Falls Church began

When was West Falls Church founded?

1910

The West Falls Church post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 25,432 in 19702020 census: 30,243116 years

How historic is West Falls Church?

D

More historic than 8% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first West Falls Church post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives West Falls Church’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, West Falls Church is more historic than 8% of U.S. towns, #195 of 253 in Virginia. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of West Falls Church’s overall grade.
Founding era1910, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19402.9% of homes (±1.1) · typical VA town 1.9% · U.S. 8.4%C−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical VA town 3.6 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 8%
NewerOlder
Virginia towns of 2,500+ (253)Ahead of 23%

Virginia towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Virginia town has 3.6 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so West Falls Church’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (17% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to D. The pre-1940 share (±1.1 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about West Falls Church’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages18 hamlets and corners are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of West Falls Church are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19007 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1994. Watch West Falls Church change.Old housesHalf of West Falls Church’s homes were built before 1962.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

West Falls Church had its own post office from 1910 to 1942.

Falls Church
1849–today
West Falls Church
1910–1942
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Annalee HeightsBel AirBrockmontBroyhill ParkDevonshire GardensFenwick ParkGreenway DownsHolmes Run ParkJeffersonJefferson VillagePine SpringSleepy HollowTremont GardensTyler ParkValley BrookWestlawnWoodleyWoodley North
Gone or out of use
Devonshire SchoolschoolFalls Church Airparkairport
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside West Falls Church
Galloway United Methodist ChurchSecond Baptist Church

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start West Falls Church’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how West Falls Church’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

West Falls Church on the map, 1900 to 1994

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of West Falls Church. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

West Falls Church on the 1900 USGS mapWest Falls Church on the 1945 USGS mapWest Falls Church on the 1951 USGS mapWest Falls Church on the 1965 USGS mapWest Falls Church on the 1971 USGS mapWest Falls Church on the 1984 USGS mapWest Falls Church on the 1994 USGS map1900Washington sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of West Falls Church.

The story

How West Falls Church came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of West Falls Church.

Read it all →

Following the American Civil War, local African-Americans established prosperous communities in an area then called South Falls Church, along Tinner's Hill and elsewhere. In 1887, white Falls Church residents gerrymandered heavily black South Falls Church out of the town limits and shrank the area of the town by one third. It is speculated that the reason for the shrinking of the town limits was a fear of black power to swing local elections. This was never reversed, and caused the boundary of the future City of Falls Church to follow South Washington Street. The name South Falls Church subsequently fell out of use.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

West Falls Church, 1849 to 1942

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1849Post officeThe Falls Church post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1910Post officeThe West Falls Church post office opens
  6. 1942Post officeThe West Falls Church post office closes
By decade

West Falls Church, decade by decade

Today18 recent
2018-10-31 13 14 37 View west along U.S. Route 50 (Arlington Boulevard) from an overpass for an unnamed road just west …20182018-10-31 13 14 37 View west along U.S. Route 50 (Ar…2018-10-31 13 14 24 View east along U.S. Route 50 (Arlington Boulevard) from an overpass for an unnamed road just west …20182018-10-31 13 14 24 View east along U.S. Route 50 (Ar…2018-10-31 13 12 59 View west along U.S. Route 50 (Arlington Boulevard) from the overpass for Virginia State Route 7 ea…20182018-10-31 13 12 59 View west along U.S. Route 50 (Ar…2018-10-31 13 12 23 View east along U.S. Route 50 (Arlington Boulevard) from the overpass for Virginia State Route 7 ea…20182018-10-31 13 12 23 View east along U.S. Route 50 (Ar…2018-10-31 13 11 52 View west along U.S. Route 50 (Arlington Boulevard) from the overpass for Virginia State Route 7 we…20182018-10-31 13 11 52 View west along U.S. Route 50 (Ar…2018-10-31 13 11 35 View east along U.S. Route 50 (Arlington Boulevard) from the overpass for Virginia State Route 7 we…20182018-10-31 13 11 35 View east along U.S. Route 50 (Ar…2018-10-31 13 11 02 View west along U.S. Route 50 (Arlington Boulevard) from the overpass for Virginia State Route 613 …20182018-10-31 13 11 02 View west along U.S. Route 50 (Ar…2016-10-28 13 15 34 View west along U.S. Route 50 (Arlington Boulevard) between Virginia State Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) …20162016-10-28 13 15 34 View west along U.S. Route 50 (Ar…2016-07-04 07 24 43 A variable message sign displaying "Special Events July 4th Expect Delays" on the northbound inner …20162016-07-04 07 24 43 A variable message sign displayin…2016-07-04 07 24 41 A variable message sign displaying "Special Events July 4th Expect Delays" on the northbound inner …20162016-07-04 07 24 41 A variable message sign displayin…2016-01-22 08 42 09 View south along the outer loop of the Capital Beltway (Interstate 495) at Exit 50 (U.S. Route 50-A…20162016-01-22 08 42 09 View south along the outer loop o…Marshweber2014MarshweberDefense Health Headquarters (DHHQ)2013Defense Health Headquarters (DHHQ)Defense Health HQ2013Defense Health HQFalls Church High School 2009 Front2009Falls Church High School 2009 FrontWest Falls Church station entrance pylon, north side2004West Falls Church station entrance pylon, north sideFairfax Connector bus 7830 at West Falls Church station2004Fairfax Connector bus 7830 at West Falls Church stati…Fairfax Connector bus 7787 at West Falls Church station2004Fairfax Connector bus 7787 at West Falls Church stati…
People over time

West Falls Church, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,000198020002020Peak: 30,243

Between 24,342 and 30,243 people in every census since 1970.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on West Falls Church’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to West Falls Church

Nobody well known was born in West Falls Church itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Sandra BullockAmerican actress and film producer · b. 1964
Dermot MulroneyAmerican actor · b. 1963
Jason SudeikisAmerican actor and comedian · b. 1975
Ariel WinterAmerican actress · b. 1998
Angus KingAmerican politician and lawyer · b. 1944
David M. BrownAmerican astronaut · b. 1956
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Annandale1 historic placeBFalls Church5 historic placesB+Lake BarcroftIts storyDIdylwoodIts storyD−Seven Corners2 historic placesC+MerrifieldIts storyD

Questions about West Falls Church’s history

What year was West Falls Church founded?

The West Falls Church post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does West Falls Church rank for history?

West Falls Church is more historic than 8% of U.S. towns, #195 of 253 in Virginia. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in West Falls Church?

3% of West Falls Church’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1962.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (18), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.