City of Falls Church

Turkey Vultures, © Rob Bielawski

So tiny that it is easily overlooked on a map, Falls Church is — at only 2.11 square miles in area — not only the smallest county or city in Virginia, but the smallest county-equivalent in the entire United States! The city has a sense of humor about its minuscule stature, leaning into it for marketing purposes by trademarking the phrase “The Little City” in 2010. And though it may be little, Falls Church is certainly not sleepy. Caught up in the hustle and bustle of Northern Virginia, Falls Church is a vibrant D.C. suburb with over 14,000 residents, and plenty of urban amenities including a nationally-renowned school system and plenty of shopping and dining options along Broad Street. The city is roughly diamond-shaped, sharing most of its boundaries with Fairfax County except for the northern edge, which runs along Arlington County and includes one of the original District of Columbia cornerstones at the intersection of Falls Church, Arlington, and Fairfax. Both VA 7 and US 29 pass through the city, and though it is not actually within the limits, I-66 is a mere stone’s through beyond.

If all of this serves to conjure up an image of a heavily-developed urban center, this was not always so for Falls Church. When it was originally settled by Europeans in the late 1600s, Falls Church was something of a frontier outpost in then-rural northern Virginia. The area around the Little Falls of the Potomac had been an important site of settlement even before European colonists arrived. With the advent of English presence in the region, Falls Church became a transportation hub for the movement of tobacco and other goods west from Alexandria. An Anglican parish, established near the falls in 1734, came to be known as The Falls Church, and eventually lent its name to the entire town. Given its relative proximity to Washington, Falls Church was the site of major troop movements and occupations during the Civil War, beginning with a large-scale Confederate occupation following the First Battle of Manassas in the summer of 1861. Union forces retook the village that September and held it for the remainder of the war. Following the Civil War, the still largely rural Falls Church area experience a population influx owing to cheap and readily available farmland. Following this growth, Falls Church was incorporated as a town in 1875. The town boundaries changed dramatically in 1887 when the largely-black area then known as “South Falls Church” (now “West Falls Church”) was ceded to Fairfax County by segregationist town leaders, reducing the town’s size by a third. Subsequent changes to Fall Church were the result of more mundane (and less nefarious) municipal squabbles. East Falls Church left to join Arlington County in the 1930s, when residents were angered by a reduction in trash pick-up to once a week. In 1945 the state placed Falls Church schools, which had been independent at the town level since 1924, under Fairfax County; ultimately, this led to the town’s decision to incorporate as a city in 1948. With increasing urbanization in the 1950s, coupled with the expansion of the interstate highway system, Falls Church was gradually engulfed by the urban sprawl from D.C., transforming from a small town to the heavily developed Beltway community it is today.

Though urbanization has certainly brought prosperity for Falls Church, it doesn’t make for ideal birding conditions. The built-up urban landscapes in the city, coupled with its small size, severely constrain birding opportunities here. Add to that the fact that Falls Church is in one of the more congested parts of Northern Virginia, and you end up with a region that is sometimes passed over by birders not looking to boost their city lists. However, the city has a well-managed system of parks that are a boon to any birders up for the challenge of birding in the United States’ smallest county! The best of these is Isaac Crossman Park at Four Mile Run, which is the only eBird hotspot with over 100 species reported as of February 2021. Hugging the border with Arlington County, this park is mostly wooded and includes a section of the Four Mile Run creek. The tract of woods here is not extensive, but there is enough to support some woodland species such as woodpeckers, nuthatches, and even Barred Owls alongside more typical suburban birds. On the right day, these woods can be good for migrant passerines, and the creek, though narrow and shallow, is the best shot for a Mallard, Canada Goose, or Great Blue Heron, and Black-crowned Night-Heron has even been report from here on one occasion. Another good spot is Howard E. Herman Park, a narrow sliver of green space along a stream valley wedged into the most developed downtown part of Falls Church. On the right day, this oasis of vegetation can be a bit of migrant trap. Other town parks with birding potential included Cavalier Trail Park, Big Chimneys Park, Cherry Hill Park, Donald Frady Park, and Berman Park. A short portion of the Washington & Old Dominion Trail passes through Falls Church, and this offers a sliver of more open, edge-type habitat where one might hope to find Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks, sparrows, Cedar Waxwings, Eastern Bluebirds (a species amazingly never eBirded in Falls Church as of February 2021!). Likewise, the Oakwood Cemetery on the eastern edge of the city is one of the more open spaces in the county, provided additional opportunity for species like Eastern Bluebird or Chipping Sparrow, as well as a vista of open sky to scan for hawks, eagles, and both vultures (which are surprisingly difficult in the city).

—Matt Anthony

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