Printer
TextAbout the Sully District
The
Sully District is a historical community that is moving fast into the
future! Once a sparsely populated rural area connected by dirt roads
traveled by Civil War troops, the Sully District has grown into the
largest district in Fairfax County. The Sully District comprises the
areas of Centreville, Clifton, Chantilly, and Oakton.
Very rich in history, Centreville, chartered in
1792, has historical landmarks such as Sully Plantation, the Mt. Gilead
House, the Old Stone Church, and the Ox Hill Battlefield sites. These
serve as just a few of the many reminders of the heritage embedded in
Centreville.
The
Sully Plantation is a Virginia Landmark. Built in 1794 by Richard Bland
Lee, Northern Virginia's first representative to Congress, the house is
furnished with antiques dating back to the federal period. View
additional information on the Sully Plantation and other Sully historic
landmarks at the Fairfax
County Park Authority's Sully Historic Site.
The
congregation of St. John's Episcopal Church was first organized in 1844
by the Reverend William F. Lockwood. The first structure was used as a
hospital during the Civil War, primarily during the campaigns of First
and Second Manassas. Sometime during the war, the building was heavily
damaged. The current structure, which stands on the original foundation,
was built about 1867.
The Church cemetery contains an unknown number of graves of which
approximately 175 are marked. The earliest grave stone has a date of
1850. Located on the corner of Mount Gilead Road and Wharton Lane, St.
John's Episcopal Church is yet another symbol of the rich history in the
Sully District.
Although some say that the Mount Gilead home was built prior
to 1750, there is currently no documentation supporting this theory. The
home was most likely built in the 1780's and reached its basic form in
the early 1800's. It was originally oriented to the south with its
primary entrance facing Braddock Road. Documentation indicates that the
house was built by Joel Beach who named it Mt. Gilead, and operated an
ordinary, or tavern, in it until 1789.
After changing hands several times, Mt. Gilead became the home of the
Malcolm Jameson family from 1837 to 1904. During the Civil War,
Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston, Commander of the Department of
Northern Virginia, used Mt. Gilead as his headquarters while some 40,000
Confederate troops were quartered in Centreville. Remains of Confederate
breastworks can be found on the property adjacent to the Jameson family
cemetery.
The Mount Gilead house has strong associations with the early settlement
of western Fairfax County and the Centreville community. The Mt. Gilead
property is located between Mount Gilead Road and Braddock Road, just
north of Lee Highway within the Centreville Historic District in the
Sully District.
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