Where We Live: Fairlawn is starting to come onto the radar

By Audrey Hoffer February 27 at 7:30 AM

Fairlawn is a quiet community east of the Anacostia River in Southeast Washington.

About 6,000 people live on peaceful streets along Anacostia Park, which hugs the river. The neighborhood is a short drive from Capitol Hill via the 11th Street and Sousa bridges.

A feeling of calmness comes over you when you cross the bridge, said Carol Casperson, a 35-year resident and recording secretary for the Fairlawn Citizens Association (FCA).

People live here because they want to, said Diane Fleming, FCA treasurer, president of the Anacostia Garden Club and a resident for 50 years.

And they come here to stay, added Casperson. Three generations live in the house next to Flemings.

The neighborhoods housing stock is varied it includes semi-detached and detached houses, condominiums and rental apartments. Modest brick rowhouses dating from the 1920s, 30s and 40s many with front porches and white awnings dominate. Because the porches are next to each other, you say hello to your neighbors, Casperson said.

Gaining new attention: In the late 1800s, Fairlawn was suburban or even rural in character, with large gardens and estates owned exclusively by whites. In the 1920s, it was a bedroom community for people working west of the river, especially at the Washington Navy Yard, and was still mostly white, according to Graylin Presbury, FCA president and author of Fairlawn: From the Flats to the Heights.

Were one of the first developed communities east of the river off Capitol Hill, he said.

Anacostia High School was desegregated in 1955, then the neighborhood followed suit in the mid-1960s. This was one of the last neighborhoods east of the river to integrate, he said.

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Where We Live: Fairlawn is starting to come onto the radar