Nomination Form
The former rural character of the small Northern Virginia city of Falls Church is embodied in the Cherry Hill farmstead, that is now part of a seven-acre park in the heart of the city. On the property is a ca. 1845 Greek Revival house and a ca. 1845 frame barn. From 1870 to 1945 Cherry Hill was owned by the Joseph Riley family. Poet James Whitcomb Riley was Riley’s nephew and some of his poems include descriptions of Cherry Hill and its residents. Joseph Riley led the drive to incorporate Falls Church in 1875 and also helped start its first public school. The city purchased Cherry Hill in 1956. The house has since been restored and furnished as a museum interpreting the lifestyle of the area’s prosperous antebellum farm families. The Cherry Hill barn houses a 19th-century tool collection.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Nomination Form
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia
