Fletcher-Johnson 
A Ward 7 community hub reimagined

Fletcher-Johnson was originally the site of Payne Cemetery but was repurposed as a school for much of the 20th century. The most recent school there was closed in 2011 and the facility has remained vacant since. Community members have an aspirational vision for redeveloping the facility that is already gaining traction. In 2018-2019 the Fletcher-Johnson Task Force assembled to advocate the community's vision for the property's redevelopment.

 

Payne Cemetery was owned and operated by Black Washingtonians and was one of the few places in DC where Black residents were allowed to be buried in the 19th century. As the portions of DC east of the Anacostia river developed in the 20th century, Payne cemetery was shut down and the land was repurposed. The graves were moved to a cemetery in PG County and by the end of the 1960’s there were no longer any grave sites at the location.

 

For current ward 7 residents the Fletcher-Johnson site is most well known as the former location of HD Woodson Highschool and Fletcher-Johnson Middle School. Tens of thousands of wards 7 and 8 residents passed through the halls of the Fletcher-Johnson facility as students over the last five decades. Today, many thousands of those same HD Woodson Highschool and Fletcher-Johnson Middle School students continue to reside in nearby neighborhoods. And in fact, many of those former students are now members of the Fletcher Johnson Task Force leading the redevelopment plans.

 

Whether as a cemetery, school, or recreational center the Fletcher-Johnson location has been a touchstone of the ward 7 community for over a century and a place of historical significance for the District. As the Task Force works through it’s aspirational plans we hope to honor and maintain elements of Fletcher-Johnson’s history in it’s next reincarnation. 

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For details on the Fletcher-Johnson history visit this timeline