St. John's Church
St John's Church
HISTORY

In 1849 John A. Throckmorton, who was in the process of purchasing land from Robert Whaley, made a Donation of One Acre of the said Tract of Land for the purpose of having thereon erected a church of the Protestant Episcopal persuasion.[1]  

Robert Whaley had purchased a larger tract of land from County Commissioners, who were ordered to sell the land involved in the chancery suit of Powell vs. Powell. (The tract would later be called Royal Oaks.) Because the land was still tied up in the courts, both Whaley and Throckmorton entered into an agreement to have the Circuit Superior Court convey the land to church trustees. Though the church was built on the land, the court did not follow through on transferring legal title to church trustees. Church trustees were, however, paying a land tax on the lot.  

The funds to construct the church may have been provided by a man named McGhee. A news story in the Fairfax News on April 10, 1874 gives the following account:

Between twenty-five and thirty years ago a young man by the name of McGhee lived in the town of Centreville-in the capacity of clerk, or store-boy- with a Mr. Deming, then a merchant of that place. As that time Centreville was for the size of it, what may be termed a fast place. Horseracing, card-playing, and an active practice at the bar was very common. Mr. McGhee subsequently found his way into the State of New York, where it is reported, he recently died, devising in his will $20,000 for the purpose of building two Episcopal church edifices in this State, one of which he directed should be put up at Centreville, in this county, thus verifying the poetical idea of a good Providence - "Out of seething evil, educing good."[2]
Philip Slaughter, in his book History of Truro Parish in Virginia [1907], notes that the church was consecrated in 1854 by Bishop John Johns.

During the Civil War, the church was reputedly used and a hospital, then burned in 1863. Land tax records of 1866, which note which buildings were destroyed during the war, states that that the church was in fact destroyed. In 1892, a bill was introduced in the House to pay St. Johns Church in Centreville for damage caused by the Union during the Civil War.
In the House Friday Mr. Meredith introduced bills to pay $1,600 to St. John's Episcopal Church at Centreville, for damages inflicted upon it by federal soldiers during the war. [3]
Saint John's Church Interior PhotoThe present church building was constructed c. 1867 and consecrated in 1872. The following year, it was struck by lightning, which caused $50 in damage. [4] In 1905, the church purchased an adjoining strip of land 30 feet wide for the purpose of enlarging the cemetery.[5] The church was closed for many years before opening again in 1916. An oyster supper, a popular fundraising event, was held to obtain money to pay for repairs to the church.
St. John's Episcopal Church, which has been closed for many years, has been reopened recently, and lay services are conducted there by Prof. Ormond Stone on the second and fourth Sundays of the month at 3 p.m., alternating with those held in the Methodist church. To raise means for repairing St. John's church, a twenty five cent oyster supper will be given at the residence of Mr. M. E. Hawes Friday evening…[6]
Various improvements were made to the church over the years, as noted in the following news accounts:
Mr. Joseph Burkley has finished the carpentry work on St. John's Church and began the painting. The church will be reopened on the last Sunday in June. [7]

A window in the memory of Mrs. Catherine Blevins, of Baltimore, has been presented to the Episcopal Church at Centreville. [8]

CENTREVILLE - Mr. William Powers is busily engaged in painting the interior of St. John's Church. Arrangements are being made to have communion on Easter Sunday morning and new decorations for the alter, pulpit and lectern are being ordered. [9]

 

Mr. P. L. McWhorter is constructing stone gate posts to St. John’s church yard.[10]

The vestry of St. John’s met on Wednesday evening. Wiring of the church is expected to begin at once.[11]

The parish hall was constructed in 1957, several years prior to the church acquiring about two acres of land from Harold Hunsburger and his wife Bernice.[12] In 1971, over one hundred years after the building of the first church, the church trustees acquired legal title to the land.[13]

DESCRIPTION
The c. 1867 portion of the church is a gothic-Revival style front-gabled structure. The primary fascade is symetrically balanced with an entrance door leading into a vestibule with pointed windows on each side. The 2/2 windows each have gabled roofs. The open rakes of the church and vestibule roofs are decorated with simple vergeboards. The wood-framed one-story structure is clad in covelap siding with capped cornerboards. The building is three bays wide and four bays deep. A modern wing was added to the southwest.

[1]  Fairfax County Deed Book (FX DB) P3(68):123, 11 Jan 1849 

[2]  Fairfax News, 10 Apl 1874, p. 3.

[3]  Fairfax Herald, 22 Apl 1892, p. 3.

[4]  Fairfax News, 01 Aug 1873, p. 3.

[5]  FX DB T6(302), 24 Feb 1905.

[6]  Fairfax Herald, 10 Nov 1916, p. 2.

[7]  Herndon Observer, 26 May 1927, p. 1.

[8]  Fairfax Herald, 09 Sep 1927, p. 5.

[9]  Herndon Observer, 30 Mar 1939, p. 5.

[10] Herndon Observer, 07 Sep 1939, p. 8.

[11] Herndon Observer, 07 Sep 1939, p. 8.

[12] FX DB 2109:475, 28 Feb 1962 

[13] FX DB 3508:152, 17 Sept 1971