FALLS CHURCH

independent city, northeast Virginia, U.S., just west of Washington, D.C. Its history centres around the Falls Church (Episcopal; 176769), which was built on the site of an earlier church erected in 1734 and named for its nearness to the Great Falls of the Potomac River. The church was attended by George Washington and George Mason; it served as a recruiting station during the American Revolution and as a hospital for wounded Union troops during the American Civil War. Primarily residential, the city is also the trade centre for nearby truck farms. Its manufactures include electronics and rockets. Memorial Fountain honours four army chaplains who gave their life jackets to soldiers aboard the troopship Dorchester when it was torpedoed off Greenland in 1943 during World War II. Falls Church was incorporated as a town in 1875 and as a city in 1948. Pop. (1990) 9,522; (1998 est.) 10,042.