Mount Vernon area resident recognized for prolific Wikipedia contributions

Mount Vernon resident Steven Pruitt’s favorite Wikipedia listing? Pohick Church in Lorton. (Wikipedia image)

The Richmond Highway corridor may be known as the one-time stomping grounds of our Founding Fathers, contemporary television personalities, military leaders and sports figures, but it also serves as present-day home to someone with a rather unique claim to fame.

Steven Pruitt, notes a recent Washington Post Magazine story, is the top English-language editor for Wikipedia, having contributed more than 2.5 million updates to the popular, free online encyclopedia and edited one-third of its nearly 5.7 million pages. Last year, he was named one of the 25 most influential people on the Internet by TIME Magazine, alongside celebrities like Rihanna, Chrissie Teigen and J.K. Rowling.

To add more local luster to the story, Pruitt told the Post that of all the Wikipedia entries he’s edited, his favorite is the listing for Pohick Church in Lorton. Pruitt — who writes under the username Ser Amantio di Nicolao — expanded the Pohick Church listing from a small “stub” to an expansive article including notes, references and photos.

Pohick Church’s new priest in charge, the Reverend Dr. Lynn Ronaldi, understands Pruitt’s fascination with the church.

“I still pinch myself every time I stand in the pulpit,” said Ronaldi. “The spirit of Pohick is very much to me like the spirit of the Founding Fathers… having differences of opinion and listening to each other with love, civility and respect,” she added.