This article is about a streetcar company in Washington D.C.. For the proposed railroad from Washington to Hagerstown, Maryland, see Metropolitan Railroad (Maryland). For the streetcar company in Atlanta, see Metropolitan Street Railroad. For the railway in London that became a predecessor to the London Underground, see Metropolitan Railway.
East Capitol Street Car Barn, built by the Metropolitan Railroad
The Metropolitan Railroad was the second streetcar company to operate in Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It was incorporated and started operations in 1864, running from the Capitol to the War Department and along H Street NW in downtown. It added lines on 9th Street NW, on 4th Street SW/SE, along Connecticut Avenue to Dupont Circle, to Georgetown, to Mount Pleasant and north along Georgia Avenue. In the late 19th century, it was purchased by the Washington Traction and Electric Company and on February 4, 1902, became a part of the Washington Railway and Electric Company.
1888 map of the Washington, D.C., streetcar system at the end of the horsecar era
The Metropolitan Railroad Company, was incorporated on July 1, 1864, two years after the Washington and Georgetown Railroad Company. It opened two lines: one ran from the Capitol to 14th and I Streets NW and a second along H Street NW from Massachusetts Avenue NW to 17th Street NW. When it started, it used two-horse cars, but in 1865 it switched to smaller cars pulled by one horse.[1][2]
An amendment, approved March 3, 1865, allowed certain branches and extensions, including among them a branch from D Street North south on Fourth Street West to Fort McNair (then the Arsenal), and an extension from New Jersey Avenue and A Street North east on A Street, south on First Street East, and east on East Capitol Street to Ninth Street East.[2] However, instead of building on Fourth Street north to D Street, the company turned the line northwest on Missouri Avenue, north on Sixth Street West, and west on B Street North to reach the south end of the Ninth Street branch. This was not authorized by any laws, but several company officers were on the city Board of Public Works, which did not object.[1]
Expansion
In 1872, it began operations on a 9th Street line with a terminus on M Street NW.[3]
In that same year it bought the Union Railroad Company, whose charter of January 19, 1872, enabled the Metropolitan to build a line from downtown D.C. to Georgetown. The line ran from the Treasury Building at 15th Street and New York Avenue NW to Georgetown across the P Street Bridge and then on various streets in Georgetown.[1]
In 1873, the Metropolitan bought the Boundary and Silver Spring Railway Company, Its charter—also issued on January 19, 1872—permitted the creation of a line from Boundary Street NW (today's Florida Avenue) to the Maryland-D.C. boundary along the Washington City and Rockville Turnpike (aka Seventh Street Extended NW, aka Brightwood Avenue NW, and today called Georgia Avenue NW). The Metropolitan fulfilled about half of this, running tracks on Boundary, then north on Georgia to Rock Creek Church Road NW.[4]
In June 1874[1], the Metropolitan acquired the Connecticut Avenue and Park Railway. Its charter of July 13, 1868,[4] enabled the Metropolitan to lay tracks from 17th and H Streets NW north to K Street, thence north-northwest on Connecticut Avenue to Boundary Street. The first horsecars ran on this line in April 1873[5] but only as far north as P Street[4], and presently the city paved over the tracks between P and Boundary. In 1883, after residents of Washington Heights petitioned the railroad to bring service to their neighborhood, the Metropolitan exhumed the tracks and established a shuttle service between P and Boundary.[1]
By 1888, the Metropolitan had built additional lines down 4th Street NW/SW to the Arsenal at P Street SW and on East Capitol Street to 9th Street.[1]
Switch to electricity
The old Boundary and Silver Spring line was never profitable. On October 18, 1888, the day after electric streetcar operations began in Washington, Congress authorized the Brightwood Railway to purchase and electrify the Metropolitan's line and to extend it to the District boundary at Silver Spring. In 1890, the Metropolitan sold the line to the upstart company.[4][6]
In 1890, as the city's streetcars switched to electric and mechanical power, the Metropolitan experimented with batteries but found them unsatisfactory. On August 2, 1894, Congress ordered the Metropolitan to switch to an underground electrical power system pioneered in Budapest, Hungary. The company complied, installing the underground sliding shoe system on the north–south line in January 1895. It was the first successful installation of such a system in the Western Hemisphere,[7][8] but still had drawbacks. In the winter, the plow would get jammed by snow and ice; in the summer, the conduits swelled shut.[9]
In 1895, Metropolitan built a massive, Romanesque-style car barn on the corner of 4th and P Streets SW.[10] But the railroad was in trouble, beset by a prolonged labor strike and saddled with a reputation for poor service. Washington, D.C., newspaper reporter George Herbert Harries was hired to be president of the Metropolitan Railroad. Within two years, Harries restored the railroad to profitability.[11]
The Metropolitan switched the rest of its system to electric power on July 7, 1896,[1] which proved a big year for the company. It built a loop on 35th and 36th Streets NW to Prospect Street NW to connect it to the Georgetown Car Barn.[1] It extended service along East Capitol Street to 15th Street and built the East Capitol Street Car Barn, a Romanesque Revival-style building designed by Waddy Wood, to serve as a barn, repair shop, and administrative offices (photo);[12]
An Act of Congress passed on February 27, 1897, allowed the Metropolitan to extend its Connecticut Avenue line northeast on Columbia Road, then north-northwest on Mount Pleasant Road to Park Road. Service began on June 6, 1900.[1][13]
Metropolitan Coach Company
After the Herdic Phaeton Company went under in 1896, the Metropolitan Railroad started a coach company running horse-drawn coaches. It began carrying passengers from 16th and T Streets NW to 22nd and G Streets NW, but the route changed, later running from 16th and U Streets NW to the Treasury Building and then along Pennsylvania Avenue NW to 9th Street NW. It began operations on May 1, 1897, with a car barn at 1914 E Street NW. In 1904 it became its own corporation.[1]
End of the line
P Street NW, in Georgetown, features streetcar tracks installed by the Metropolitan Railroad in the 1890s.
Between 1896 and 1899, three businessmen purchased controlling interests in several streetcar companies, including the Metropolitan Railroad Company. They incorporated the Washington Traction and Electric Company on June 5, 1899, as a holding company for these interests. But the holding company had borrowed too heavily and paid too much for the subsidiaries and was quickly in financial trouble. Because of this, Congress authorized the Washington and Great Falls on June 5, 1900, to acquire the stock of any and all of the railways and power companies owned by Washington Traction. When Washington Traction defaulted on its loans on June 1, 1901, Washington and Great Falls moved in to take its place. On February 4, 1902, Washington and Great Falls changed its name to the Washington Railway and Electric Company, reincorporated as a holding company and exchanged stock in Washington Traction and Electric one for one for stock in the new company (at a discounted rate). This was the end of the Metropolitan Railroad Company.[14]
↑ Ganschinetz, Suzanne. "East Capitol Street Car Barn". Washington, D.C. Historic Places Travel Itinerary. The United States National Park Service. Retrieved 2007-02-23.
↑ March, Charles E. (August 1934). "The Local Transportation Problem in the District of Columbia". The Journal of Land and Public Utilities Economics. University of Wisconsin Press. 10 (3): 275–290. doi:10.2307/3139173. ISSN1548-9000. JSTOR3139173.
Related Research Articles
Northwest is the northwestern quadrant of Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and is located north of the National Mall and west of North Capitol Street. It is the largest of the four quadrants of the city, and it includes the central business district, the Federal Triangle, and the museums along the northern side of the National Mall, as well as many of the District's historic neighborhoods.
Streetcars in Washington, D.C. transported people across the city and region from 1862 until 1962.
The Rock Creek Railway was one of the first electric streetcar companies in Washington, D.C., and the first to extend into Maryland.
Waddy Butler Wood was a prominent American architect of the early 20th century and resident of Washington, D.C. Although Wood designed and remodeled numerous private residences, his reputation rested primarily on his larger commissions, such as banks, commercial offices, and government buildings. His most famous works include the Woodrow Wilson House and the Main Interior Building.
Streetcars and interurbans operated in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., between 1890 and 1962. Lines in Maryland were established as separate legal entities, but eventually they were all owned or leased by DC Transit. Unlike the Virginia lines, the Washington and Maryland lines were scheduled as a single system. Most of the streetcar lines were built with grand plans in mind, but none succeeded financially. A combination of the rise of the automobile, various economic downturns and bustitution eventually spelled the end of streetcars in southern Maryland.
The Capital Traction Company was the smaller of the two major street railway companies in Washington, D.C., in the early 20th century.
The Washington and Georgetown Railroad Company was the first streetcar company to operate in Washington, D.C., United States. It was incorporated and started operations in 1862, using horse-drawn cars on tracks between Georgetown and the Navy Yard. Two additional lines ran on 7th Street NW/SW and 14th Street NW. In 1890, it switched to cable cars. On September 21, 1895, the company was purchased by the Rock Creek Railway and the two formed the Capital Traction Company.
The Pennsylvania Avenue Line, designated Routes 32 and 36, is a daily Metrobus route in Washington, D.C., Operating between the Southern Avenue station or Naylor Road station of the Green Line of the Washington Metro and Potomac Park. Until the 1960s, it was a streetcar line, opened in 1862 by the Washington and Georgetown Railroad as the first line in the city.
The 14th Street Line, designated Routes 52, 54, is a daily bus route operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority between Takoma station of the Red Line of the Washington Metro and L'Enfant Plaza station (52) of the Blue, Yellow, Orange, Green, and Silver lines of the Washington Metro or Metro Center station (54) of the Red, Blue, Orange, and Silver Lines of the Washington Metro. The line operates at every 12 minutes frequencies during the day and 10-30 minutes during late night service. Trips roughly take 40-60 minutes to complete. Select trips begin/end at 14th Street & Colorado Avenue NW as well.
The Washington Railway and Electric Company (WRECo) was the larger of the two major streetcar companies in Washington, D.C., and its Maryland suburbs in the early decades of the 20th century.
The Columbia Railway was the third streetcar company to operate in Washington, D.C. It was incorporated and started operations in 1870, running from the Treasury Building along H Street NW/NE to the city boundary at 15th Street NE. It switched to cable power in 1895 and then electric power in 1899. The company extended to Seat Pleasant, Maryland, and Kenilworth in 1898. In the late 19th century, it was purchased by the Washington Traction and Electric Company and on February 4, 1902, became a part of the Washington Railway and Electric Company.
The Anacostia and Potomac River Railroad Company was the fourth streetcar company to operate in Washington, D.C., and the first to cross the Anacostia River. It was chartered in 1870, authorized by Congress in 1875 and built later that year. The line ran from the Arsenal to Union Town. It expanded, adding lines to Congressional Cemetery, Central Market and to the Government Hospital for the Insane; and in the late 1890s it purchased two other companies and expanded their lines. It was reluctant to change its operations, but in 1900 it relented to pressure and became the last company to switch from horsecars to electric streetcars. It was one of the few companies not to be swept up by the two major streetcar companies at the turn of the 20th century, but it could not hold out forever and on August 31, 1912, it was purchased by the Washington Railway and Electric Company and ceased to operate as a unique entity.
The Capitol, North O Street and South Washington Railway was a street railway company in Washington, D.C., from 1875 to 1898. It was the sixth and final company to start during the horse car era. It operated on a loop, or "belt," around downtown and the National Mall. For that reason, and because of its long name, it was known colloquially as the Belt Railway. It changed its name to the Belt Railway in 1893. It expanded north and south on 11th street west to the boundaries of the city. In 1896 it attempted to use compressed air motors instead of electricity, a decision that sent them into receivership. In 1898, the company was purchased by the Anacostia and Potomac River Railroad and the company ceased to exist.
The Herdic Phaeton Company was a late nineteenth-century mass transit company that was located in Washington, D.C. The company derived part of its name from Peter Herdic, the designer of the horse-drawn carriage known as the Herdic.
P Street refers to four different streets within the city of Washington, D.C. The streets were named by President George Washington in 1791 as part of a general street naming program, in which east–west running streets were named alphabetically and north–south running streets numerically.
The Anacostia Line is a partially constructed line of the DC Streetcar, never put into service, intended to connect the Anacostia neighborhood with Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling. Construction occurred in 2009 and 2010, but was terminated before the line was complete.
The Georgetown Car Barn, historically known as the Capital Traction Company Union Station, is a building in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C., in the United States. Designed by the architect Waddy Butler Wood, it was built between 1895 and 1897 by the Capital Traction Company as a union terminal for several Washington and Virginia streetcar lines. The adjacent Exorcist steps, later named after their appearance in William Friedkin's 1973 horror film The Exorcist, were built during the initial construction to connect M Street with Prospect Street.
The Georgia Avenue–7th Street Line, designated as Route 70, is a daily bus route that is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority between Silver Spring station of the Red Line of the Washington Metro and Archives station of the Green and Yellow lines of the Washington Metro. With late night and early morning trips extending to L'Enfant Plaza station of the Blue, Orange, Silver, Green and Yellow Lines of the Washington Metro. The line operates every 12 minutes during the weekdays, 15 minutes during the weekends, and 20 minutes during the late nights. Trips are roughly 60 minutes.
A trio of streetcar companies provided service along a single 10-mile line from the Washington, D.C., neighborhood of Georgetown northward and ultimately to Rockville, Maryland, in the early decades of the 20th century.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
