Fairlawn is a

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

and

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...

residential neighborhood in

southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, United States. It is bounded by Interstate 295,

Pennsylvania Avenue Pennsylvania Avenue is a primarily diagonal street in Washington, D.C. that connects the United States Capitol with the White House and then crosses northwest Washington, D.C. to Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown. Traveling through So ...

SE, Minnesota Avenue SE (between Pennsylvania Avenue SE and Naylor Road SE), Naylor Road SE (between Minnesota Avenue SE Good Hope Road SE), and Good Hope Road SE.

History

The Nacotchtank Native Americans were the first settlers to inhabit the area now known as Fairlawn, living and fishing along the nearby

Anacostia River The Anacostia River is a river in the Mid-Atlantic states, Mid Atlantic region of the United States. It flows from Prince George's County, Maryland, Prince George's County in Maryland into Washington, D.C., where it joins with the Washington Ch ...

. Captain John Smith was the first

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an to visit the region in A.D. 1612, naming the river the "Nacotchtank".Rountree, Helen C.; Clark, Wayne E.; and Mountford, Kent. ''John Smith's Chesapeake Voyages, 1607–1609.'' Charlotte, Va.: University of Virginia Press, 2007. Burr, Charles R. "A Brief History of Anacostia, Its Name, Origin, and Progress."
''Records of the Columbia Historical Society.'' 1920. War and disease decimated the Nacochtank, and during the last 25 years of the 17th century the tribe ceased to exist as a functional unit and its few remaining members merged with other local Piscataway tribes.Cantwell, Thomas J. "Anacostia: Strength in Adversity." ''Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C.'' 1973/1974. European settlement in Southeast Washington first occurred in 1662 at Blue Plains (now the site of the city's sewage treatment plant just to the west of the modern neighborhood of Bellevue), and at St. Elizabeth (now the site of

St. Elizabeths Hospital St. Elizabeths Hospital is a psychiatric hospital in Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast Washington, D.C. operated by the District of Columbia Department of Mental Health. The hospital opened in 1855 under the name Government Hospital for th ...

psychiatric hospital A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe Mental disorder, mental disorders. These institutions cater t ...

) and Giesborough (now called Barry Farm) in 1663.Bryan, Wilhelmus Bogart. ''A History of the National Capital from Its Foundation Through the Period of the Adoption of the Organic Act.'' New York: The Macmillan Company, 1914. In 1663, Lord Baltimore granted ownership of the majority of the area on the south bank of the Anacostia River to George Thompson. The area became part of the District of Columbia in 1791. Congress passed the Residence Act of 1790 to establish a federally owned district in which would be built the new national capital, and

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

picked the current site in 1791 (a choice ratified by Congress later that year).

William Marbury William Marbury (November 7, 1762 – March 13, 1835) was an American businessman and one of the " Midnight Judges" appointed by United States President John Adams the day before he left office. He was then the plaintiff in the landmark 1803 Sup ...

, a wealthy Georgetown merchant who later was a party in the landmark ''

Marbury v. Madison ''Marbury v. Madison'', 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137 (1803), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that established the principle of judicial review, meaning that American courts have the power to strike down laws and statutes they find ...

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

case, purchased much of the "Chichester tract" some time in the late 18th or early 19th century. The growth of the

Washington Navy Yard The Washington Navy Yard (WNY) is a ceremonial and administrative center for the United States Navy, located in the federal national capital city of Washington, D.C. (federal District of Columbia). It is the oldest shore establishment / base of ...

created the need to provide housing for the many new employees working at the facility, but little land was available for new construction in the area and housing prices were high. Consequently, in 1818, the privately owned " Upper Navy Yard Bridge" was built over the Anacostia River at 11th Street SE.Croggon, James. "Old 'Burnt Bridge'"
'' Evening Star.'' July 7, 1907. This

toll bridge A toll bridge is a bridge where a monetary charge (or '' toll'') is required to pass over. Generally the private or public owner, builder and maintainer of the bridge uses the toll to recoup their investment, in much the same way as a toll road ...

was designed to permit easy access to Anacostia so that housing could be constructed on the eastern shore of the Anacostia River. A road was built from the bridge to the town of

Upper Marlboro, Maryland Upper Marlboro, officially the Town of Upper Marlboro, is the county seat of Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population within the town limits was 652, although Greater Upper ...

, and named Upper Marlborough Road (called Good Hope Road SE today), while another road ran roughly parallel to the river and was named Piscataway Road (then in the late 19th century "Asylum Road" and in the 20th century "Nichols Avenue", and is now Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue SE).Senkevitch, Anatole. ''Old Anacostia, Washington, D.C.: A Study of Community Preservation Resources.'' School of Architecture, University of Maryland. 1975. In the late 1820s or early 1830s, Marbury sold his land to Enoch Tucker, a farmer who rented out part of the land to

tenant farmer A tenant farmer is a farmer or farmworker who resides and works on land owned by a landlord, while tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and ma ...

s and built his home near the intersection of Upper Marlborough Road and Piscataway Road. Developers John Dobler, John Fox, and John W. Van Hook purchased the 240-acre (97.2 hectare) area immediately southwest of Fairlawn from Enoch Tucker on June 5, 1854, for $19,000 and immediately subdivided the property into lots for houses."A New Historic District." ''Washington Post.'' March 5, 1978.Gillette, Howard. ''Between Justice and Beauty: Race, Planning, and the Failure of Urban Policy in Washington.'' Philadelphia, Pa.: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006. Naming the area Uniontown (it is the neighborhood of

Anacostia Anacostia is a historic neighborhood in Southeast (Washington, D.C.), Southeast Washington, D.C. Its downtown is located at the intersection of Marion Barry Avenue (formerly Good Hope Road) SE and the neighborhood contains commercial and gover ...

today), the development became Washington's first "suburban" community.Evelyn, Douglas E.; Dickson, Paul; and Ackerman, S.J. ''On This Spot: Pinpointing the Past in Washington, D.C.'' 3rd rev. ed. Sterling, Va.: Capital Books, 2008. Van Hook (the lead developer) renamed streets in the area after former presidents: Upper Marlborough Road was now called "Harrison Street," and Piscataway Road now known as "Monroe Street". Dr. Arthur Christie, a wealthy Englishman, purchased 50 acres (20.25 hectares) of land on the north side of Harrison Street (now the lower portion of Good Hope Road SE) and named his estate Fairlawn. The Fairlawn neighborhood derives its name from Christie's estate. Racially restrictive covenants were used in early 20th century Fairlawn to keep the neighborhood exclusively

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

. A

Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It covers general interest topics with an emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout Washington, D. ...

real estate advertisement from October 1911 listed "NO NEGROES" as one of the neighborhood's supposed "advantages". Fairlawn remained largely undeveloped farm and woodland until 1940. Uniontown/Anacostia, Barry Farm, Congress Heights, and Randle Highlands were the focus of most housing and retail development. Even these communities remained isolated from one another, and most of the land between them was forest until

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

.Benedetto, Robert; Donovan, Jane; and Du Vall, Kathleen. ''Historical Dictionary of Washington.'' New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003. The oppressive need for housing during the war, brought about by a massive influx of federal workers to the capital, led to extensive building of homes in Fairlawn and the linking of the neighborhood with other parts of southeast D.C. The southern part of the

Washington Metro The Washington Metro, often abbreviated as the Metro and formally the Metrorail, is a rapid transit system serving the Washington metropolitan area of the United States. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ...

's Green Line was originally designed to pass over the

11th Street Bridges The 11th Street Bridges are a complex of three bridges across the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C., United States. The bridges convey Interstate 695 (District of Columbia), Interstate 695 across the Anacostia to its southern terminus at Int ...

to the intersection of Good Hope Road SE and Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue SE.Sisler, Peter F. "Decades of Frustrating Debate Kept Green Line Sidetracked." ''Washington Times.'' December 27, 1991.Burgess, John. "Metro to Halt Start of Leg To Rosecroft." ''Washington Post.'' March 18, 1982.Feaver, Douglas. "Metro Choices Detailed." ''Washington Post.'' October 18, 1977.Vesey, Tom. "Green Line War Heats Up Again." ''Washington Post.'' June 23, 1982. The site of the Anacostia Metro station at this intersection led to concerns that the Metro station would destroy the character of historic Anacostia and Fairlawn, and after pressure from the federal government Metro moved the site of the station to its current location on Howard Road SE.

Notable establishments and place names in Fairlawn

Two public schools, Anacostia Senior High School and Kramer Middle School, are located in Fairlawn. Naylor Road School, a private school (grades K through 8), is also in the neighborhood. The Anacostia Branch of the District of Columbia Public Library is located in Fairlawn at 1800 Good Hope Road SE. The large Marbury Plaza apartment building complex (2300 and 2330 Good Hope Road SE) in the Fairlawn neighborhood is named for William Marbury. Naylor Road SE is named for the Naylor family, whose farm constituted much of southern and southeastern portion of Fairlawn. Good Hope Road SE is named for the town of Good Hope, D.C., founded in 1820 around a tavern located near the current intersection of Good Hope Road SE and Alabama Avenue SE.''Anacostia Historic District.'' D.C. Historic Preservation Office. Office of Planning, District of Columbia. Washington, D.C.: March 2007.
Accessed 2009-12-26. The Anacostia Gateway building (1800 Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue SE) was built by the District of Columbia in Fairlawn at the intersection of Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue SE and Good Hope Road SE.Hedgpeth, Dana. "Moving Metro Office Could Spur Growth." ''Washington Post.'' August 8, 2005. As of January 2010, it houses the D.C. Department of Housing and Economic Development. The Anacostia Gateway building will be a terminus of the Anacostia Line of the

DC Streetcar The DC Streetcar is a surface streetcar network in Washington, D.C. that consists of a single line running in mixed traffic along H Street and Benning Road in the city's Northeast quadrant. The streetcars are the first to run in the Distri ...

trolley system, under construction as of December 2009.Sun, Lena H. "Streetcars Could Be Running on D.C. Roads by Late Next Year." ''Washington Post.'' July 13, 2008; Young, Joseph. "Streetcars Set to Run Again in the District." ''Washington Times.'' August 26, 2009; Hohmann, James. "Anacostia Streetcar Track Installation Begins." ''Washington Post.'' September 20, 2009. The easternmost portion of Fort Dupont Park runs along T Street SE, Naylor Road SE, and Altamont Place SE in the Fairlawn area. The park adjoins Fort Stanton Park at Good Hope Road SE.

References

External links

Fairlawn Citizens Association

And Now, Anacostia

Anacostia Online, calendar, shops, etc.
{{Neighborhoods in Washington, D.C. 1940 establishments in Washington, D.C. African-American history of Washington, D.C. American middle class Neighborhoods in Southeast (Washington, D.C.) Working-class culture in Washington, D.C.