Inception of Centreville
by Debbie Robison
THE FIRST PETITION
The Town of Centreville, originally spelled Centerville, was the brainchild of James Hardage Lane. The impetus for the creation of the town was Lane's desire to provide financial support to his widow during her lifetime and then to provide for their children.

James Hardage Lane had purchased a 350-acre tract north of the Mountain Road from John and Katherine Lane in 1769. Present day Braddock Road nearly follows the path of the old Mountain Road. The parcel was located near a plantation and tavern known as Newgate.

In 1790, three years after J H Lane's death, the following people petitioned the Virginia House of Delegates to establish a town on their property between Newgate and the Great Rocky Run Bridge. (Great Rocky Run is now known as Big Rocky Run.)

  • John Stewart Alexander (whose property was on the south side of the Mountain Road)
  • J H Lane's widow; Mary, executrix
  • J H Lane's children; William, Mary, Bukah, Deliah, George, Daniel C., and Enoch S Lane
  • George Ralls

The petitioners suggested that the Turnpike Road (previously known as the Mountain Road) become the main street of the town. They reasoned that a town on the Turnpike road leading from the Northwestern Territory and centrally located to Alexandria, Colchester, Dumfries, Middleburg, George Town, Fauquier Court House, and Leesburg would be convenient. Additionally, they touted the advantages of a healthy and well-watered country in the midst of a rich & Nourishing Neighbourhood . It was suggested that the town would in a short time become a respectable manufacturing town.

A second petition was submitted to the Legislature in October 1792, the year the General Assembly enacted legislation founding the town.