Olivet Episcopal Church

Here follows an excerpt from the 1970 Fairfax County Master Inventory of Historic Sites which contained entries from the Historic American Buildings Survey Inventory:

The Olivet Episcopal Church which was built in 1898 is the third of four structures used by this congregation. In 1853, the first simple log structure was built and called Holcomb Chapel after the local seminarian who served it. Used by Union troops during the Civil War, the chapel was destroyed by fire about 1865, and another structure was soon constructed on the same site. In 1898, the congregation erected a third building, a white frame church, locating it at the intersection of Franconia and Beulah Roads. By this time the name had been changed to Olivet Episcopal Church, which it still retains. In 1953, a red brick building was constructed, planned as the educational wing of a proposed new church. Deteriorating physical conditions in the frame church have since precluded its use. All services are now held in the brick building.

The frame church is a simple, one-room board and batten structure with an entrance vestibule. A diamond-shaped window opens above the vestibule and there are four gothic arched windows on the two long sides. The steep pitch of the roof line is repeated in the roof of the vestibule. The church is pleasantly landscaped but set close to the road. The possibility of widening the intersection poses a threat to the church.


<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>

Here follows an excerpt from the Fall 2015 "Franconia Legacies" newsletter published by the Franconia Museum:

The bell at Olivet Episcopal Chapel at the corner of Franconia Road and Beulah Street is unique in the fact that it is rung by hand each Sunday morning at eight o'clock. The church building on this spot dates back to 1893, and the bell was installed in the 1950s. It reportedly came from a Southern Railroad steam engine and was installed by church members. Listen for the sound of Franconia's history each Sunday morning.


<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>

Here follows an excerpt from the Fall 2005 "Franconia Legacies" newsletter published by the Franconia Museum:

Olivet Episcopal Church
The little white Olivet Chapel is the last remaining landmark of early Franconia and has been a meeting place for Franconia Episcopalians for over 100 years. The Chapel functions today as one of two locations for Olivet’s parish, and is a favorite site for weddings. The Olivet congregation is committed to maintaining this landmark for the active use of its members and visitors.

The present Chapel is not the first Olivet church building. Its origins lie in the early 1850’s under the supervision of three seminary professors, when students of the Virginia Theological Seminary, on the outskirts of nearby Alexandria, were actively evangelizing and organizing prayer and Sunday Schools in the 17 mission stations from Bailey’s Crossroads, Arlington to U.S. Route 1, Groveton. Richard Marshall Scott, Jr., owner of the nearby Bush Hill plantation and member of Christ Church, Alexandria, noted in his journal on May 29, 1853, “Our family attended religious services on the outskirts of my land on Backlick Road at a place where we intend to build a small chapel.” On the following day, he noted that Mr. John Parsons, a carpenter who worked for him by the year, commenced work on the little chapel, which opened for worship services on June 12, 1853.

Rev. H. H. Holcomb was the seminary student most responsible for organizing and ministering to the congregation of “Olivet Mission Station” on the Scott plantation. After three years of study, Rev. Holcomb graduated and was ordained on June 29, 1855 at St. Paul’s Church in Alexandria. On July 2nd of the same year, he paid his respects to Mr. Scott and his family before returning to his home parish to prepare for his trip in the Fall to serve as a missionary to Liberia under Bishop Payne. Shortly after his arrival in Liberia, he was stricken with a ‘fever’ and died one week later on June 12, 1957. The original building in which Rev. Holcomb had served the Olivet Parish so faithfully was later abandoned and replaced in 1861, at a cost of $1,200, with a much larger and nicer building. On March 17th of the same year, it was dedicated by the Rt. Rev. John Johns and renamed “Holcomb Chapel” in his honor. Mr. R. Mason of the Virginia Theological Seminary followed Rev. Holcomb and continued to preach and minister to the congregation until his graduation in 1857.

Both of the 1853 and 1861 buildings, in addition to other mission stations, schools and other wooden structures in the area, were dismantled by Federal troops during the Civil War years. This lumber, plus much virgin timber, was cut from private plantations and the Virginia Theological Seminary which was used for their personal use. Virginia Theological Seminary, located three miles to the north of Olivet Church, was mainly used as a Union hospital, bakery, a cemetery, and officer’s quarters for the Federal Troops. It, too, was left in disrepair at the end of the war.

After the Civil War, Virginia Theological Seminary resumed operations in the fall of 1866 and soon had its mission stations back in operation. Messrs. Hullihen and Lewis, students at the seminary, are credited with organizing the building of Olivet’s third chapel. In 1866, this chapel was built on a new and better site donated by the widow of Richard Scott, who had died in 1856. The exact location of the building on Bush Hill plantation is uncertain, but Mr. Bruce Gunnell, the great-nephew of the Widow Scott, stated that as a boy he remembers the Chapel being located between present day Bush Hill Drive and Westchester Street and about 150 yards north of Franconia Road in the present-day Bush Hill sub-division. This was about two miles to the east of the present Olivet Episcopal Church. This chapel was named “Mount Olivet Chapel” and was built at a cost of $600. This neat weather-boarded chapel was capable of accommodating 100 persons.
However, it was not consecrated until June 23, 1872 because of unpaid debt of $250. The aftermath of the war not only devastated the country but the poor, jobless farmers that made up the parishes were hit the hardest. During these economically depressed times, tobacco was used in trade for needs and to pay salaries. Money was just not available, as Confederate currency was useless and caused the retirement of the debt to take several years.

The chapel now in use was consecrated April 4, 1893 by the Rt. Rev. Francis M. Whittle on its present site but the history is silent regarding the reasons for the parish relocation from Bush Hill. The new site was on a corner lot of then Rolling and Windsor Roads (now Franconia Road and Beulah Street) and was sold to the church by the widow of South Carolina congressman William W. Boyce for a token price of $5.00.

The Rev. Samuel A. Wallis graduated from the Virginia Theological Seminary in 1881 and on June 1882 became the Rector of Pohick Church. In December that year, he was appointed the part-time Rector of Olivet Chapel where he remained for 12 years. However, in his several stations for the rest of his ministry, he continued to be involved in Olivet’s ministry until his retirement in 1934. It is interested to note that it took Olivet exactly 100 years to emerge as a parish with its own rector 1853-1953). In 1953, the Rev. Charles Karsten became the first full time clergyman until 1957 when he answered a call from another church. He was succeeded by the Rev. Stuart West, who became the second rector of Olivet Church. During his tenure (1958-1969) Olivet achieved parish status (1962). When he answered a call to another church, Rev. Berry B. Simpson, Jr. (1969-1981) came, followed by the Rev. Donald P. Roberts (1982-1990). The Rev. Rick Wright came in May 1992 and stayed until June 2000. The Rev. Robert Tedesco, who received his training as a Deacon at Olivet, also served as a Supply Priest off and on from 1990 to 2002. The Rev. Dr. David S. Harper joined us in August 2002 as the sixth full-time rector of Olivet.

There were drastic industrial changes made in the Springfield and Franconia areas in the 1950’s that changed the lives of the farmers and their country style of living to an unexpected hustle-bustle city life. The Orange and Alexandria Railroad, completed around 1854, did little to stimulate growth. When Shirley Highway (now Route 95) opened in the fall of 1949, it opened the floodgates for travel, new homes, and buildings and it brought Washington, D.C. residents within 15 minutes of the quiet little town of Franconia. The population explosion from a few hundred people to thousands of new residents was unbelievably rapid.

During this building boom, Olivet’s new brick Church building was consecrated in 1957. The new facility, with a larger seating capacity, included a Sunday School with individual rooms and an Undercroft with a fully equipped kitchen and parish hall for social activities. The new building became very popular. Olivet had taken a giant step to accommodate the surrounding growing community, and found themselves heavily in debt; however, the debt was retired in 1975. That same year, Olivet’s new building was consecrated by the Rt. Rev. Robert B. Hall. Today the brick Church building, as well as the 1893 wooden Chapel, is used to support outside community activities and services, in addition to the normal scheduled events of the parish.


<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>

Here follows an excerpt from Donald Hakenson's "This Forgotten Land" tour guide:

The original Olivet Chapel was built in 1853 on land donated by Richard Marshall Scott. Olivet Church was originally situated at Bush Hill and Franconia Road. Olivet Chapel was used by Federal troops to quarter horses, and was destroyed by fire by Union troops to prevent its use by Rebels. This was also a picket post for the Thirty-eighth and Fortieth New York Volunteers in September 1861.

Private Robert Knox Sneden wrote in his diary that on December 2, 1861, "I went out on picket duty today with part of a company of the Fortieth Regiment. At the first post at Olivet Church, several dead horses lay in the road as there had been some skirmishing here last night. I have not seen any dead cavalrymen so far. The church itself was half torn down by our men on guard. All the windows were carried off to camp... as well as the pews, iron work, [and] doors to make flooring for tents. One fellow had two church windows for a tent set on edge at an angle like a shelter tent."

Mrs. Virginia Scott, the owner of the Bush Hill estate donated land for the rebuilding of the church at its present location. The new chapel was completed and dedicated in 1898.


<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>

Here follows an excerpt from the Spring 2008 edition of the "Franconia Legacies" newsletter published by the Franconia Museum:

"Mr. George Fowle, one of Alexandria’s most wealthy and popular citizens, has invited his young friends to join him in a straw ride to Franconia on Tuesday night next on the occasion of a strawberry festival for the benefit of the Episcopal church there."
— The Washington Post, June 4, 1892

The Strawberry Festival at the Franconia Episcopal Church (6107 Franconia Road) has been held annually for well over one hundred years and continues to this day.