East of the River

Barry Farm

by: Hayden Wetzel

The history of Barry Farm (notice no S on either word) is well known. The land was owned by James Barry, and purchased by the Freedman’s Bureau in 1867 to settle newly-freed slaves. A one-acre plot and lumber for a two-room house cost $125-300. The area is thus one of the oldest African-American neighborhoods in the city. In the early 20th century Barry Farm ran eastward to 13th Street and on both sides of Nichols Avenue (now ML King Ave), but it kept getting chopped down: railroad tracks cut it off from Poplar Point in the 1910s, the east part of the area changed its name to Hillsdale, and then (in the 1950s) the Suitland Parkway was constructed around the north and west.

All of this left Barry Farm small and isolated. “Today,” wrote the Post in 1954, “it is almost like a country village in the heart of the city – a section largely untouched since the end of the Civil War.” The early houses had been replaced by larger places, some lots subdivided, and commercial buildings had spread along Nichols, but Barry Farm – between St. Elizabeths, the new SE Freeway, and the Suitland Parkway – lived on like a little village, a place where one old resident reported time was told by the hospital bell and “to smell liquor on a man’s breath was cause to bar him from most houses.”

In 1954 the RLA (in an odd repeat of the Freedman’s Bureau project) bought everything south of Wade Road and replaced the houses with public housing – the standard courtyard-style of the time. And that is how the place is today – the same low housing between Wade and Firth Sterling, several other apartment buildings along ML King, and between these some of the old houses still left. A large Rec Center, Birney Elementary, and one convenience store complete the neighborhood.

There is no denying that Barry Farm has a reputation for crime and neglect, but a visit with the extremely friendly and caring staff of the Rec Center shows the more everyday side of the community – kids shooting hoops and waiting for their DC United coaches, neighbors stopping by the communal mailboxes for letters and conversation, people sitting in the shaded courtyards chatting and on the street washing cars. The place still has a very isolated, “village” feel. Do you want to see the old Barry Farm? Go to the Wade Road where the street runs into St. E’s and look at the three old frame houses standing against the hill. Block out the apartments behind you and there it is again – houses and trees and neighbors.

Barry Farm Rec Center
Mr. Ashton, Mr. Wallace
1230 Sumner Rd SE
645-3896

Hayden Wetzel, a licensed DC tour guide, is an active volunteer for the DC Preservation League. He can be contacted at: haydenwetzel@hotmail.com


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Barry Farm

by: Hayden Wetzel
The history of Barry Farm (notice no S on either word) is well known. The land was owned by James Barry, and purchased by the Freedman’s Bureau in 1867 to settle newly-freed slaves. A one-acre plot and lumber for a two-room house cost $125-300. The area is thus one of the oldest African-American neighborhoods in the city. In the early 20th century Barry Farm ran eastward to 13th Street and on both sides of Nichols Avenue (now ML King Ave), but it kept getting chopped down: railroad tracks cut it off from Poplar Point in the 1910s, the east part of the area changed its name to Hillsdale, and then (in the 1950s) the Suitland Parkway was constructed around the north and west. All of this left Barry Farm small and isolated. “Today,” wrote the Post in 1954, “it is almost like a country village in the heart of the city – a section largely untouched since the end of the Civil War.” The early houses had been replaced by larger places, some lots subdivided, and commercial buildings had spread along Nichols, but Barry Farm – between St. Elizabeths, the new SE Freeway, and the Suitland Parkway – lived on like a little village, a place where one old resident reported time was told by the hospital bell and “to smell liquor on a man’s breath was cause to bar him from most houses.” In 1954 the RLA (in an odd repeat of the Freedman’s Bureau project) bought everything south of Wade Road and replaced the houses with public housing – the standard courtyard-style of the time. And that is how the place is today – the same low housing between Wade and Firth Sterling, several other apartment buildings along ML King, and between these some of the old houses still left. A large Rec Center, Birney Elementary, and one convenience store complete the neighborhood. There is no denying that Barry Farm has a reputation for crime and neglect, but a visit with the extremely friendly and caring staff of the Rec Center shows the more everyday side of the community – kids shooting hoops and waiting for their DC United coaches, neighbors stopping by the communal mailboxes for letters and conversation, people sitting in the shaded courtyards chatting and on the street washing cars. The place still has a very isolated, “village” feel. Do you want to see the old Barry Farm? Go to the Wade Road where the street runs into St. E’s and look at the three old frame houses standing against the hill. Block out the apartments behind you and there it is again – houses and trees and neighbors. Barry Farm Rec Center Mr. Ashton, Mr. Wallace 1230 Sumner Rd SE 645-3896 Hayden Wetzel, a licensed DC tour guide, is an active volunteer for the DC Preservation League. He can be contacted at: haydenwetzel@hotmail.com