Truro Parish, Virginia

Truro Parish was the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Anglican church in colonial Virginia with jurisdiction originally over all of Fairfax County. The parish had its central church at the Truro Church and the parish was named for the parish in Truro in Cornwall. The parish was created on November 1, 1732 from Hamilton Parish. It was divided twice: in 1748, Cameron Parish was formed and in 1764 Fairfax Parish was created. After 1765, Truro Parish covered southern Fairfax County until disestablishment ended the parish system by 1786.

The Anglican church was the established religion of the Colony of Virginia from 1619 - 1776. Each parish in the colony was ministered to by a single minister and governed by a vestry usually composed of 12 local men of wealth and standing in the community. Parishes were created by acts of the House of Burgesses and the upper house of the legislature, the Governor's Council.

Truro Parish was created by the General Assembly of Virginia on November 1, 1732 when Hamilton Parish was divided along the Occoquan River and Bull Run. It included what is, at present, Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun counties, and the independent cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, and Falls Church. The parish was named after Truro in Cornwall, England.

Truro Parish initially covered all of the land north of those rivers up to the Potomac, and westward all the way to the Blue Ridge Mountains at Ashby's Gap. The parish originally contained three churches: Occoquan (the parish seat), William Gunnell's, and a chapel "above Goose Creek". The exact locations of the second two are unknown, but the Occoquan church was later known as Pohick Church, which still stands. In 1733, work was started on a new church "near Michael Reagan's"; this was at the site of the present-day Falls Church. In 1742, Fairfax County was created out of Prince William and the boundaries of Truro Parish were adjusted to conform to the boundary between the civil counties.

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