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Midcity at the Crossroads
Shaw Heritage Trail
15 On the Path
The wooden chapel here was completed in 1857 as a mission of the McKendree Methodist Church. Known as Fletcher Chapel, it may have been a stop on the Underground Railroad.
Washington's Anti-Saloon League began meeting at Fletcher Chapel in 1893 and later merged into the National Anti-Saloon League. The League helped persuade Congress to pass the 18th Amendment prohibiting alcohol sales and consumption in 1920. Two years later, though, Congress imposed Prohibition on Washington as a test case. Local and national Prohibition ended with the 18th Amendment repeal in 1933.
In 1905 Fletcher Chapel was purchased by First Tabernacle Church of God and Saints of Christ.
Across this intersection is Bible Way Temple. Founder Rev. Smallwood E. Williams began his preaching career outdoors on Seventh Street. At the time of his death in 1991, Williams led the more than 300 churches of Bible Way Church World Wide. Active in civil rights and city politics, Williams saved his church from demolition for highway construction in 1963. Today Interstate 395 bends around its site.
Just up Fourth Street at the corner of N is the site of the first pharmacy opened by Roscoe Pinkett. The family's business went on to include John R. Pinkett, Inc., a real estate and insurance company based in Shaw from 1932 until 1992.
As you walk to sign 16, notice the Yale Steam Laundry at 437-443 New York Avenue. Designed in 1902 to blend in with its residential neighbors, its state-of-the-art machinery washed, dried, and ironed uniforms, tablecloths, and linens collected at Yale's many DC storefronts. |