The Tinner Hill Arch

The Tinner family quarried pink granite rock at the base of Tinner Hill from the late 1800s into the 1920s.

Before them, people who were enslaved on the Dulany plantation and Native Indians quarried from this site. The abandoned quarry is now paved on top of the hill, and at its base is the site of the Budget Motel and Vietnamese Karaoke Restaurant along Washington Street (Route 29 or Lee Highway) in Falls Church, Virginia. Close examination of the undeveloped side of the hill reveals a portion of the original vein of rocks.

The Tinner’s quarried the rock and cut it into blocks. The built buildings and foundations of homes from the granite. The 1922 Falls Church Bank and the Texaco Station at the corners of Broad and Washington Streets were excellent examples. Unfortunately, both were demolished in the 1970’s. The only remaining work of the Tinner’s is in building foundations, fireplaces, porches and chimneys of homes in Falls Church.

In the 1970’s the Tinner Pink Granite taken directly from the quarry was tested by Dr. Avery Drake of the U.S. Geologix Survey. He ascertained the rock to be Trohnjemite. It belongs to the granite family and consists of biotite, granodiorite, quartz, mica, diorite.

It is a quartz-rich, light-colored variety of granodiorite and is named after a locality in Central Norway, where it was discovered. Other large veins also are found in Alaska and Andes. Trondhjemite contains very little or no alkali feldspar, whereas quartz content is more than 20%. Biotite and hornblend are the dark constituents that are regularly distributed and make up less than 15% of the whole.

A 12’x4’x4’ chuck of trondhjemite that was blasted from the original quarry is now resting on the Tinner Hill historic site. The Tinner Hill Monument Arch on the corner of South Washington Street (Route 29 or Lee Highway) and Tinner Hill Road in Falls Church is made entirely from trondhjemite.

(Reference: Handbook of Rocks, Minerals, and Gemstones By Walter Schumann, Houghton-Mifflin – 1993, ISBN -0-395-51137-2, Page 214)

During this era, top of the hill and the slopes were likely an Oak/Hickory forest with trees over 100 feet tall and a thick forest floor of rich, black soil. The surrounding base was likely a chain of beaver ponds with adjoining meadow/swamps in the lowland. The hill was likely cleared of forest in the early 18th century for a tobacco plantation. Erosion from rainfall would have quickly removed the rich layer of topsoil formerly protected by forest cover and carried the sediment to the surrounding streams. During the Colonial and post-Revolution eras enslaved people working on the Dulany Plantation purportedly lived on Tinner Hill. The Dulany family home was on the west face of the adjacent Prout Hill. Little research has been completed on this era. Following the Civil War, the hill changed ownership until Charles and Mary Tinner purchased the top, plus the western and southern slopes. It was at this point that it became known as Tinner Hill. They subdivided the hill for homes and lots for their children. The eastern and northern slopes changed ownership many times. A portion of the eastern and northeastern slopes was purchased near the beginning of the early 20th century by Edwin Bancroft Henderson. During the late 19th and early 20th century, the land was used for both residential and farming. A dramatic change occurred in 1922, when route 29 (Lee Highway and South Washington Street) was cut and paved right across the top of Tinner Hill.

The previous road, Old Fairfax Courthouse Road followed a pass heading west between Tinner and Berryman Hill. Providing a major thoroughfare through the middle of the hill brought many more people and commerce to the hill. By the mid-20th century, the land has been used for both residential and commercial uses. The most noticeable portion of the hill is commercial. The Tinner descendants still reside on Tinner Hill.

The arch was chosen by the Board of the Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation as the form of the Monument. John Ballou drew the design, and Mark Coupard was the architect. The structural engineer was Guy Razzi.

The land for the arch was donated by the City of Falls Church and Saab International. The majority of the funding came from a grant through Delegate Bob Hull and the Commonwealth of Virginia. The remaining funds came from Dominion Power, the Wollenberg Foundation, and the honorable H. Robert Morrison. A film by Bob Burnett about Tinner Hill and a Harambee Celebration helped raise the remaining funds from throughout the local African-American and general population.

Roy Morgan was the principal stone mason, and James Ware was the general contractor. Tyrone Lee was the mason’s assistant. The project manager was Dave Eckert. The monument was built in the ancient hand labor tradition by three men over a three-month period from July through September 1999. The monument has a nine-foot base of reinforced concrete and a metal infrastructure for each ascending pillar. The design was prepared, and the stone was cut at the Tinner Hill Road cul-de-sac 100 yards from the site at the bottom of the hill. After each stone was cut by Morgan, it was delivered by Lee with a hand cart up the hill, across Route 29, and to the site. Ware and Lee would then place each stone. A 30-minute film, The Making of A Monument by Dave Eckert, provides a unique view of this process.tion text goes here