57-537: The Washington Aqueduct is an aqueduct that provides the public water supply system serving Washington, D.C. , and parts of its suburbs, using water from the Potomac River . One of the first major aqueduct projects in the United States, it was commissioned by the U.S. Congress in 1852, and construction began in 1853 under the supervision of Montgomery C. Meigs and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers . Portions of
114-604: A Pre-K to 8th grade Christian parochial school of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod . The Falls Church News-Press is a free weekly newspaper founded in 1991 that focuses on local news and commentary and includes nationally syndicated columns. The area is also served by national and regional newspapers, including The Washington Times and The Washington Post . The city is also served by numerous citizen- and corporate-sponsored Internet blogs. WAMU Radio 88.5 produces news and opinion programs with
171-564: A bridge carrying an artificial watercourse . Aqueducts were used in ancient Greece , the ancient Near East , ancient Rome , ancient Aztec , and ancient Inca . The simplest aqueducts are small ditches cut into the earth. Much larger channels may be used in modern aqueducts. Aqueducts sometimes run for some or all of their path through tunnels constructed underground. Modern aqueducts may also use pipelines. Historically, agricultural societies have constructed aqueducts to irrigate crops and supply large cities with drinking water. The word aqueduct
228-621: A construction material widely used by the Nazca culture. The time period in which they were constructed is still debated, but some evidence supports circa A.D. 540–552, in response to drought periods in the region. The Guayabo National Monument of Costa Rica, a park covering the largest archaeological site in the country, contains a system of aqueducts. The complex network of uncovered and covered aqueducts still functions well. The aqueducts are constructed from rounded river stones, which are mostly made of volcanic rock . The civilization that constructed
285-539: 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. During the American Revolution the area is most known for The Falls Church vestrymen George Washington and George Mason . A copy of the United States Declaration of Independence was read to citizens from the steps of The Falls Church during
342-534: A fragment remains in Mexico City today. Extensive usage of elaborate aqueducts have been found to have been used in ancient Sri Lanka . The best example is the Yoda Ela or Jaya Ganga, an 87 kilometres (54 mi) long water canal carrying excess water between two artificial reservoirs with a gradient of 10 to 20 cm per kilometer during the fifth century AD. However, the ancient engineering methods in calculating
399-516: A large portion of eastern Fairfax County, including the dense commercial areas of Tysons Corner and Merrifield , until January 2014, when the water utility was sold to the Fairfax County Water Authority . The city is served by Falls Church City Public Schools : Of the four Falls Church City Public Schools, one, Mount Daniel Elementary School, is located outside city limits in neighboring Fairfax County. Falls Church High School
456-632: A local focus. Although two stations on the Washington Metro 's Orange Line have "Falls Church" in their names, neither lies within the City of Falls Church: East Falls Church station is in Arlington County and West Falls Church station is in Fairfax County . The primary roads serving Falls Church directly are U.S. Route 29 and Virginia State Route 7 . The portion of US 29 through Falls Church
513-417: A local history collection, including newspaper files, local government documents, and photographs. The State Theatre stages a wide variety of live performances. Built as a movie house in 1936, it was reputed to be the first air-conditioned theater on the east coast. It closed in 1983; after extensive renovations in the 1990s, including a stage, bar, and restaurant, it re-opened as a music venue. Falls Church
570-750: A locus of early African American history in the area, including the site of the first rural chapter of the NAACP . 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 . The west cornerstone stands in Andrew Ellicott Park at 2824 Meridian Street, Falls Church and N. Arizona Street, Arlington, just south of West Street. Stone number SW9 stands in Benjamin Banneker Park on Van Buren Street, south of 18th Street, near
627-575: A nationally affiliated party nomination. City services and functions include education, parks and recreation, library, police, land use, zoning, building inspections, street maintenance, and storm water and sanitary sewer service. Often named a Tree City USA , the city has one full-time arborist. Some public services are provided by agreement with the city's county neighbors of Arlington and Fairfax, including certain health and human services (Fairfax); and court services, transport, and fire/rescue services (Arlington). The city provided water utility service to
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#1732844936981684-530: A new aqueduct is built alongside the old one because it cannot be shut down during construction. Falls Church, Virginia Falls Church is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia , United States. As of the 2020 census , the population was 14,658. Falls Church is part of both Northern Virginia and the Washington metropolitan area . As of 2020, it has a median household income of $ 146,922,
741-507: A pumping station, A rapid sand filter plant was built at Dalecarlia Reservoir, which went online in 1927. The Dalecarlia plant is the larger of the two plants in the system, having been upgraded in the 1950s, and is the plant that serves the Virginia communities that use the Aqueduct. In 1926, Congress approved selling water from the aqueduct to Arlington County, Virginia . A new water supply pipe
798-437: A series of well-like vertical shafts, connected by gently sloping horizontal tunnels. There are three types of falaj: These enabled large scale agriculture to flourish in a dry land environment. In Persia , starting around 3000 years ago a system of underground aqueducts called qanāts were constructed, a series of well-like vertical shafts, connected by gently sloping tunnels. This technique: Throughout Petra , Jordan,
855-477: A single pipe for water delivery, and did not have any water purification plants, relying instead on the reservoirs to act as settling basins. By the turn of the 20th century, however, Washington's growth and the high amount of sediment in the Potomac's water kept the reservoirs from doing their jobs well, and so the first treatment plant, a massive slow sand filter bed system, was installed at McMillan Reservoir, and
912-508: A source such as a river, spring, reservoir, qanat , or aqueduct for domestic consumption or agricultural irrigation of crop land uses. Rills were traditionally used in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean climate cultures of ancient and historical eras; and other climates and continents worldwide. They are distinguished from a 'water ditch ' by being lined to reduce absorption losses and to increase durability. The Falaj irrigation system at
969-635: A third is from the Colorado River. In modern civil engineering projects, detailed study and analysis of open-channel flow is commonly required to support flood control, irrigation systems, and large water supply systems when an aqueduct rather than a pipeline is the preferred solution. In the past, aqueducts often had channels made of earth or other porous materials but significant amounts of water are lost through such unlined aqueducts. As water gets increasingly scarce, these canals are being lined with concrete, polymers , or impermeable soil. In some cases,
1026-490: Is a wholesale water supplier, and the communities it serves are responsible for billing customers and managing water mains. The service area is: Aqueduct (water supply) An aqueduct is a watercourse constructed to carry water from a source to a distribution point far away. In modern engineering, the term aqueduct is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose. The term aqueduct also often refers specifically to
1083-523: Is also the smallest county-equivalent in the United States by area. The center of the city is the crossroads of Virginia State Route 7 (Broad St./Leesburg Pike) and U.S. Route 29 (Washington St./Lee Highway). Tripps Run, a tributary of the Cameron Run Watershed , drains two-thirds of Falls Church, while the Four Mile Run watershed drains the other third of the city. Four Mile Run flows at
1140-523: Is believed to have some of the earliest aqueducts. Evidence can be found at the sites of present-day Hampi, Karnataka . The massive aqueducts near Tungabhadra River supplying irrigation water were once 15 miles (24 km) long. The waterways supplied water to royal bath tubs. In Oman from the Iron Age , in Salut, Bat, and other sites, a system of underground aqueducts called falaj or qanāts were constructed,
1197-646: Is called a qanat. One historic example found in Syria, the Qanat Firaun, extends over 100 kilometers. Modern aqueducts may also make extensive use of pipelines. Pipelines are useful for transporting water over long distances when it needs to move over hills, or where open channels are poor choices due to considerations of evaporation , freezing, pollution, or environmental impact. They can also be used to carry treated water . Historically, agricultural societies have constructed aqueducts to irrigate crops. Archimedes invented
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#17328449369811254-701: Is derived from the Latin words aqua ( water ) and ductus ( led or guided ). Although particularly associated with the Romans, aqueducts were devised much earlier in Greece, the Near East , Nile Valley , and Indian subcontinent , where peoples such as the Egyptians and Harappans built sophisticated irrigation systems. The Aztecs and Incans also built such systems independently later. Roman-style aqueducts were used as early as
1311-570: Is dwarfed by aqueducts in the far west of the country, most notably the 242-mile (389-km) Colorado River Aqueduct , which supplies the Los Angeles area with water from the Colorado River nearly 250 miles to the east and the 701.5-mile (1,129.0 km) California Aqueduct , which runs from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to Lake Perris . The Central Arizona Project is the largest and most expensive aqueduct constructed in
1368-464: Is governed by a seven-member city council, each elected at large for four-year, staggered terms. Council members are typically career professionals holding down full-time jobs. In addition to attending a minimum of 22 council meetings and 22 work sessions each year, they also attend meetings of local boards and commissions and regional organizations (several Council Members serve on committees of regional organizations as well). Members also participate in
1425-458: Is not nominally a county. The city's corporate boundaries do not include all of the area historically known as Falls Church; these areas include portions of Seven Corners and other portions of the current Falls Church postal districts in Fairfax County and Arlington County , known as East Falls Church , which was part of the town of Falls Church from 1875 to 1936. For statistical purposes,
1482-581: Is not part of the Falls Church City Public School system, but rather the Fairfax County Public Schools ; it does not serve the city of Falls Church. Falls Church City is eligible to send up to three students per year to the Fairfax County magnet school, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology . The city is home to Saint James Catholic School, a parochial school serving grades K–8, and Grace Christian Academy,
1539-664: The Al Ain Oasis , in present-day Abu Dhabi Emirate , uses rills as part of its qanat water system. Sometimes in the Spanish language they are called Acequias . Rills are also used for aesthetic purposes in landscape design. Rills are used as narrow channels of water inset into the pavement of a garden , as linear water features , and often tiled and part of a fountain design. The historical origins are from paradise garden religious images that first translated into ancient Persian Gardens . Rills were later exceptionally developed in
1596-610: The 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. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 2.0 square miles (5.2 km ), all of it land and none of it water. Falls Church is the smallest independent city by area in Virginia. Since independent cities in Virginia are considered county-equivalents, it
1653-911: The Moorish (Spanish) Gardens of Al-andalus , such as at the Alhambra in Granada ; and also in other Islamic gardens, cultures, and countries. Early 20th century examples are in the María Luisa Park gardens in Seville, Spain; and at the Casa del Herrero gardens in Montecito, California . Aqueducts sometimes run for some or all of their path through tunnels constructed underground. A version of this common in North Africa and Central Asia that has vertical wells at regular intervals
1710-582: The Nabataean engineers took advantage of every natural spring and every winter downpour to channel water where it was needed. They constructed aqueducts and piping systems that allowed water to flow across mountains, through gorges and into the temples, homes, and gardens of Petra's citizens. Walking through the Siq , one can easily spot the remains of channels that directed water to the city center, as well as durable retention dams that kept powerful flood waters at bay. On
1767-658: The South–North Water Transfer Project aims to connect the Yangtze River basin to Beijing through three separate systems. The project will reuse part of the Grand Canal of China . The simplest aqueducts are small ditches cut into the earth. Much larger channels may be used in modern aqueducts, for instance the Central Arizona Project uses 7.3 m (24 ft) wide channels. A major factor in
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1824-535: The U.S. Department of Commerce 's Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the City of Falls Church with Fairfax City and Fairfax County. At 2.11 square miles, Falls Church is the smallest incorporated municipality in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the smallest county-equivalent municipality in the United States. The independent city of Falls Church is named for the 1734 Church of England (later Episcopal Church ) church building named The Falls Church founded at
1881-497: The second-highest household income of any county in the nation behind Loudoun County, Virginia . Taking its name from The Falls Church , an 18th-century Church of England , later the Episcopal Church , Falls Church gained township status within Fairfax County in 1875. In 1948, it seceded from Fairfax County and was incorporated as the City of Falls Church, an independent city with county-level governance status although it
1938-518: The water screw to raise water for use in irrigation of croplands. Another use for aqueducts is to supply large cities with drinking water. They also help drought-prone areas with water supply . Some of the Roman aqueducts still supply water to Rome today. In California , United States, three large aqueducts supply water over hundreds of miles to the Los Angeles area. Two are from the Owens River area, and
1995-608: The 7th century BC, when the Assyrians built an 80 km long limestone aqueduct, which included a 10 m high section to cross a 300 m wide valley, to carry water to their capital city, Nineveh . Although particularly associated with the Romans , aqueducts were likely first used by the Minoans around 2000 BCE. The Minoans had developed what was then an extremely advanced irrigation system , including several aqueducts. The Indian subcontinent
2052-558: The Aqueduct is a 12-mile (19 km) pipeline that connects the system's dam at Great Falls with the Dalecarlia Reservoir on the border with Montgomery County, Maryland . Portions of the Aqueduct went online on January 3, 1859, and the full pipeline began operating in 1864. The pipeline runs along what is now MacArthur Boulevard , traversing some of the higher cliffs along the Potomac River. The Union Arch Bridge carries
2109-612: The Falls Church Farmer's Market is held Saturdays year-round, Jan 3 – April 25 (9 am – Noon), May 2 – Dec 26 (8 am – Noon), at the City Hall Parking Lot, 300 Park Ave. In addition to regional attention, in 2010 the market was ranked first in the medium category of the American Farmland Trust's contest to identify America's Favorite Farmers' Markets. The Falls Church Village Preservation and Improvement Society
2166-485: The United States, with a median annual household income of $ 113,313. While Fortune 500 companies General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman have headquarters with mailing addresses in Falls Church, they are physically in Fairfax County . According to the city's 2021 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, the top employers in the city are: The city has broken ground on several redevelopment projects to be completed in
2223-754: The United States. It stretches 336 miles from its source near Parker, Arizona to the metropolitan areas of Phoenix and Tucson . An aqueduct in New Zealand, "the Oamaru Borough Race", was constructed in the late 19th century to deliver water (and water-power) about 50 km from the Waitaki River at Kurow to the coastal town of Oamaru . In Spain, the Tagus-Segura Water Transfer system of aqueducts opened in 1979 and transports water 286 kilometres (178 mi) from north to south. In China,
2280-471: The Virginia Municipal League and some serve on statewide committees. The mayor is elected by members of the council. The city operates in a typical council–manager form of municipal government, with a city manager hired by the council to serve as the city's chief administrative officer. The city's elected Sheriff is Metin "Matt" Cay. Candidates for city elections typically do not run under
2337-403: The aqueduct began operation on January 3, 1859, and the full pipeline began operating in 1864. The system is owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and has been in continuous use ever since. It is listed as a National Historic Landmark . The Union Arch Bridge , which carries a portion of the aqueduct, is also listed as a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark . The centerpiece of
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2394-595: The aqueduct system remains a mystery to archaeologists; it is suspected that Guayabo's aqueducts sat at a point of ancient cultural confluence between Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas. When Europeans saw the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan , early in the 16th century, the city was watered by two aqueducts. One of these, Chapultepec aqueduct , built c. 1420 , was rebuilt by the Spanish almost three hundred years later. Originally tracing part of its path over now-gone Lake Texcoco , only
2451-461: The base of Minor's Hill , which overlooks Falls Church on its north, and Upton's Hill , which bounds the area to its east. Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race. In 2011, Falls Church was named the richest county (or county equivalent) in
2508-493: The design of all open channels is its gradient. A higher gradient allows a smaller channel to carry the same amount of water as a larger channel with a lower gradient, but increases the potential of the water to damage the aqueduct's structure. A typical Roman aqueduct had a gradient of about 1:4800. A constructed functional rill is a small canal or aqueduct of stone, brick, concrete, or other lining material, usually rectilinear in cross section , for water transportation from
2565-519: The empire, and set a standard of engineering that was not surpassed for more than a thousand years. Bridges, built in stone with multiple arches, were a distinctive feature of Roman aqueducts and hence the term aqueduct is often applied specifically to a bridge for carrying water . Near the Peruvian town of Nazca, an ancient pre-Columbian system of aqueducts called puquios were built and are still in use today. They were made of intricately placed stones,
2622-430: The exact elevation between the two reservoirs and the exact gradient of the canal to such fine precision had been lost with the fall of the civilization in 13th Century. Modern aqueducts are a central part of many countries' water distribution infrastructure. The United States' aqueducts are some of the world's largest. The Catskill Aqueduct carries water to New York City over a distance of 120 miles (190 km), but
2679-520: The intersection of important Native American trails that were later paved and named Broad Street, Lee Highway and Little Falls Street. The first known government in the area was the Iroquois Confederacy . After exploration by Captain John Smith , England began sending colonists to what they called Virginia. While no records have yet been found showing the earliest colony settlement in the area,
2736-600: The island of Samos , the Tunnel of Eupalinos was built during the reign of Polycrates (538–522 BC). It is considered an underground aqueduct and brought fresh water to Pythagoreion for roughly a thousand years. Roman aqueducts were built in all parts of the Roman Empire , from Germany to Africa, and especially in the city of Rome, where they totalled over 415 kilometres (258 mi). The aqueducts supplied fresh water to public baths and for drinking water, in large cities across
2793-508: The next few years, including the West Falls Church Economic Development Project and Founders Row along Route 7/Broad street. The city holds an annual Memorial Day Parade with bands, military units, civic associations, and fire/rescue stations, in recent years the event has featured a street festival with food, crafts, and non-profit organization booths, and a 3K fun run (the 2009 race drew some 3,000 runners).
2850-604: The pipeline and MacArthur Boulevard over Cabin John Creek and the Cabin John Parkway near the community of Cabin John, Maryland . This bridge was the longest masonry arch bridge in the world for 40 years. The Dalecarlia Reservoir serves as a primary sedimentation basin. A portion of the water from the reservoir is treated at the nearby Dalecarlia Water Treatment Plant and distributed to municipal water mains. The remainder of
2907-568: The summer of 1776. During the American Civil War Falls Church voted 44–26 in favor of secession. The Confederate army occupied the then village of Falls Church as well as Munson's and Upton's hills to the East, probably due to their views of Washington . On September 28, 1861, Confederate troops withdrew from Falls Church and nearby hills, retreating to the heights at Centreville . Union troops took Munson's and Upton's hills, yet
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#17328449369812964-476: The town passed a segregation ordinance by creating segregated districts in the town. The ordinance was not enforced after the U. S. Supreme Court ruling in Buchanan v. Warley in 1917. The Mary Riley Styles Public Library is Falls Church's public library; established in 1899, its current building was constructed for the purpose in 1958 and expanded in 1993 and 2021. In addition to its circulating collections, it houses
3021-460: The village was never entirely brought under Union rule. Mosby's Raiders made several armed incursions into the heart of Falls Church to kidnap and murder suspected Northern sympathizers in 1864 and 1865. Cherry Hill Farmhouse and Barn, an 1845 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. Tinner Hill Arch and Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation represent
3078-705: The water from the reservoir flows to the Georgetown Reservoir in the Palisades neighborhood of Washington. This facility serves as an additional sedimentation basin, and then the water flows through the Washington City Tunnel to the treatment facility at the McMillan Reservoir , after which it is pumped through city mains. The Dalecarlia Reservoir was modified in 1895 and 1935 to improve water quality and increase water supply. The system originally used
3135-509: Was completed in 1905. Improvements in the early 1900s were planned and supervised by Army engineer Henry C. Newcomer . The regular use of chlorine as a disinfectant began in 1923 at the McMillan plant. The McMillan plant was not replaced until 1985, when a rapid sand filter plant was opened next to it. In the 1920s, the aqueduct was upgraded with the addition of a second pipe from Great Falls to Dalecarlia, along with several new reservoirs and
3192-515: Was constructed at Chain Bridge and service to Arlington began in 1927. Additional pipes were built as Arlington's population grew, including one under the Potomac River. In 1947, Congress approved adding the city of Falls Church, Virginia , to the aqueduct system, and nearby portions of Fairfax County, Virginia , were added in the 1960s. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built an additional intake and pumping station at Little Falls in 1959. The Aqueduct
3249-509: Was founded in 1885 by Arthur Douglas and re-established in 1965 to promote the history, culture, and beautification of the city. The Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation was founded in 1997 by Edwin B. Henderson II to preserve the Civil Rights and African American history and culture. Falls Church is where the first rural branch of the NAACP was established stemming from events that took place in 1915, when
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