The Washington and Georgetown Railroad Company was established in 1862 and ran 3 horse-drawn streetcar lines: North-south on 7th street, North-south on 14th street, and East-west on Pennslyvania Avenue from Georgetown to the Navy Yard. On the Pennslyvania Avenue line, the stables and car barn were located on the Georgetown end at the Georgetown Car Barn.But, when horses were retired on use from the Washington and Georgetown, and power functions switched to using cable pulled streetcars, the W&amp;G built multiple buildings to facilitate successful cable operations. These were the 7th car barn and powerhouse, the 14th car barn, the Pennslyvania Avenue powerhouse, and the Navy Yard car barn. All the buildings were completed in 1891 and designed by Walter C. Root in the style of Romanesque Revival. Of the four buildings, the Navy Yard car barn is the only remaining. The Navy Yards' original construction was 100 by 283 feet and could hold 250 cable cars. The cable car did not remain long, as it was plagued by problems, being prone to breakdowns. A massive fire of the powerhouse on Pennslyvania brought to end cable operations and afterward, the W&amp;G shifted to electrical conduit operations.In 1895, the W&amp;G merged with another streetcar company becoming Capital Traction Company, one of two in a Washington duopoly on streetcar transit (the other company being the Washington Railway and Electric Company). The Capital Traction company added the one-story addition filling in the rest of the block in 1909. When streetcars were phased out of DC in the late 1950s and 1960s, the Navy Yard was one of the last car barns to remain open, receiving the last streetcar on January 28, 1962.

A streetcar running on M Street near the Car Barn in the 1960s, before the car barn was painted. 

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Paper about streetcars in Washington, D.C.

Video with John DeFerrari, author of Capital Streetcars

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Recently published book about DC Streetcars

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The streetcar barn at M and 8th Street SE, north of the Navy Yard, served as the car barn for streetcars for the Washington and Georgetown, Capital Traction, Capital Transit, and DC Transit companies. It was designed and built in 1891 and expanded in 1909. The older, two-story section of the barn resembles a medieval castle and is sometimes called the Blue Castle, in reference to its blue paint. The structure is important due to its long time relationship with the history of the Washington, D.C. streetcar system, and being the last extant building in a series of four constructed by the Washington and Georgetown in 1891 to convert to cable operations. Currently, the building is home to a venue called the Capital Turnaround, used for hosting events. 

Navy Yard Streetcar Barn

This heritage trail begins at the National Capital Trolley Museum and the Bethesda Trolley Trail and includes will a number of other prominent landmarks related to the history of streetcars in Washington, D.C. 

The National Capital Trolley Museum was opened soon after the decline of streetcars in Washington DC, in January 1962. The Colesville site was opened in 1965, although the museum was moved to another location in the Northwest Branch Park in 2010. In 2003, a fire destroyed the car barn of the museum, and many streetcars were lost, including a one of a kind prototype PCC streetcar. Currently, the museum has multiple exhibits including ones about the effect of streetcars on suburban development, the car barn which visitors can tour, and Conduit Hall, which exhibits Washington DC's one of a kind conduit system for receiving electricity for its streetcars. Streetcars in Washinton DC operated from July 1862-January 1962. In the beginning, many independent streetcar companies connected newly developed suburbs to the city via the usage of horse-drawn streetcars. The first to operate was the Washington and Georgetown Railroad company operating from the Navy Yard to Georgetown and north and south on 7th and 14th streets. More city streetcars also began popping up, including the Columbia Railway, and the Rock Creek Railway. The Rock Creek Railway and the Washington and Georgetown merged in 1895 to form the Capital Traction company, while all other companies, including many going into the suburbs of DC such as the Tenallytown and Rockville Railroad, amalgamated to form the Washington Railway and Electric Company (WRECO). The two companies merged in December 1933 to form the Capital Transit Company. In the 1930s, many suburban lines were shut down including the streetcar lines to Rockville and Chevy Chase, MD, although the 20, the route to Cabin John stayed open. In 1956, the Capital Transit Company was reorganized due the company being raided by Louis Wolfson, causing the company much pain while Wolfson and shareholders paid massive dividends to themselves. The DC Transit was established with the key to stop operation of streetcars in DC by 1963, which was a promise kept by Roy Chalk. The last streetcars ran on January 28, 1968, and NCTM managed to acquire a couple streetcars from Chalk including a car from 1918, a snow sweeper (which was destroyed in the 2003 fire), the one of a kind prototype PCC (also destroyed), and the first PCC, car 1101. The museum also has additional PCCs, car 1430, a war time produced limited streetcars, acquired from a junk dealer and in need of restoration, car 1540, awaiting restoration, and recently acquired from the Virginia Museum of Transportation, car no. 1470.

The National Capital Trolley Museum in Colesville, MD, is a museum dedicated to preserving the history of trolleys in Washington, D.C. The museum posses multiple streetcars that it runs on its one-mile rail line. Currently, no Washington streetcars actively operate, although PCC car 1101 operates on special occasions. In addition, the museum also owns many other cars from around the nation and the world, including two sisters cars from Toronto, and an open "boat" streetcar from Blackpool, England.  

National Capital Trolley Museum 

The Bethesda Trolley Trail is built of the abandoned right of way of the Tenallytown and Rockville railroad, which first built a rail line to Bethesda in 1891. The line stopped at the current divergence point between the right of way and Old Georgetown Road, at Alta Vista Road. At the northern terminus of the line, there was a small amusement park named Bethesda Park which drew visitors to the line. The park was located in the current neighborhoods of Oakmont and Sonoma, and the main entrance was located near Sonoma Rd and Old Georgetown Road. A hurricane destroyed the park in 1896 and nothing remains of it today. In 1900, the line was further extended all the way to Rockville. In the south, the Tenallytown and Rockville connected with the Georgetown and Tenallytown Railroad. Logically, in 1897 the two companies merged and became the Washington and Rockville Railroad. In 1902, this railroad was acquired by the Washington Railway and Electric Company (WRECO), which had purchased most other streetcar lines in the DC area, save for those operated by the Capital Traction Company. When the Capital Traction Company and WRECO merged in 1933, and in 1935, the line to Rockville was shut down, leaving the right of way from Alta Vista to North Bethesda abandoned until the 2000s, when Montgomery County built the Bethesda Trolley Trail on top of the right of way.

The Bethesda Trolley Trail is a trail that stretches 5.9 miles from Downtown Bethesda to North Bethesda. The trail is built off the former right of a way of the Tennallytown and Rockville Railroad, a streetcar line that went from current day Tenleytown to Rockville. The trail connects Rockville to Bethesda by two key bridges, one over I-495, and over I-270, making it possible for cyclists and pedestrians to get from Bethesda to Rockville. 

Bethesda Trolley Trail

Streetcars in DC were first established in 1862, with the establishment of the Washington and Georgetown Railroad. Gradually over time, more and more companies were incorporated and more and more lines were built. In 1933, all streetcar companies came under one company, named Capital Transit. Under Capital Transit, operations of streetcars mostly shifted to commuting inside the city instead of the many rural and suburban lines of years past. One of the largest bottlenecks in the city was perpetually located at Dupont Circle, where Connecticut, Massachusets, and New Hampshire Avenues converged, streetcars were often stuck in traffic with cars, proving to be a large problem. As early as 1937, plans were advocated to make an underground bypass for streetcars. Plans were revived in 1941 and were finally approved in 1947. The first car to go through the new tunnel was PCC car No. 1550, which was a success, as trips through the circle on the 40/42 streetcar line were cut by several minutes. When streetcars stopped operating in January 1962, DC Transit attempted to fit buses through the tunnel, but the tunnels proved to be too small. The first pre-streetcar purpose of the underground station was as a designated fallout shelter where citizens might go if the Soviet Union attack the US with nuclear weapons. This function was abandoned in 1975, and for while, the station sat unused. In 1995, a food court was set up called Dupont Down Under, which also flopped due to dark conditions and poor ventilation. In 2016, the tunnels reopened with the new Dupont Underground art display.

Dupont Underground is a former underground streetcar station that has now been converted into an art installation. The tunnels and station were constructed over 2 years, opening in 1949. The tunnels operated for 11 years before being shut down due to the city-wide conversion from streetcars to buses. Since then, the venue has served multiple unsuccessful businesses, although it appears the most recent art installation appears to fare better than its predescors. 

Dupont Underground

The streetcar on display at the Museum of American history is a prime example of early 20th-century city mobility, and the exhibition showcases multiple ways people in Washington, D.C. got around. Streetcars in Washington, D.C. were established in 1862 with the founding of the Washington and Georgetown railroad. The car that the museum features is from the Capital Traction Company, which was formed after the merging of the Washington and Georgetown and Rock Creek Railway companies. The exhibition also discusses the role of streetcars on suburbanization, as land development companies such as the Chevy Chase Land Company subdivided and sold land in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. to wealthy whites. The online exhibit states "Real estate developers often built streetcar lines to promote new suburban communities. Their success in selling the suburbs to middle-class workers changed neighborhood life and the rhythms of the city." The streetcar on display at the exhibit, Capital Traction 303 was one of 16 built by the American Car Company of St Louis. Once received, the car entered service on the 7th street line of the former Washington and Georgetown railroad, which had merged with the Rock Creek Railway to form Capital Traction in 1895. The gold and white painting of the streetcar was painted specifically for the 7th street line cars, as Pennsylvania Avenue cars were painted green and cream. Inside, there are two longitudinal benches and a fare counter on each end. The museum also owns another streetcar, Capital Traction trailer 1512, which was paired with Capital Traction 303. Both cars were gifted to the Smithsonian by O Roy Chalk when the DC Transit streetcar system shut down. Car 303 is currently the only former DC streetcar that is on display within the District of Columbia.

Part of the vast exhibits at the National Museum of American History includes an exhibition called American on the Move. The exhibit stretches many rooms and covers many different topics, including one titled "A Streetcar City" which details the history of streetcars in Washington, D.C., and explains its significance as a role model of national trends. The exhibition contains Capital Traction streetcar No. 303. 


America on the Move Exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History

The Washington and Georgetown Railroad Company was established in 1862 and ran 3 horse-drawn streetcar lines: North-south on 7th street, North-south on 14th street, and East-west on Pennslyvania Avenue from Georgetown to the Navy Yard. On the Pennslyvania Avenue line, the stables and car barn were located on the Georgetown end at the Georgetown Car Barn. But, when horses were retired on use from the Washington and Georgetown, and power functions switched to using cable pulled streetcars, the W&amp;G built multiple buildings to facilitate successful cable operations. These were the 7th car barn and powerhouse, the 14th car barn, the Pennslyvania Avenue powerhouse, and the Navy Yard car barn. All the buildings were completed in 1891 and designed by Walter C. Root in the style of Romanesque Revival. Of the four buildings, the Navy Yard car barn is the only remaining. The Navy Yards' original construction was 100 by 283 feet and could hold 250 cable cars. The cable car did not remain long, as it was plagued by problems, being prone to breakdowns. A massive fire of the powerhouse on Pennslyvania brought to end cable operations and afterward, the W&amp;G shifted to electrical conduit operations. In 1895, the W&amp;G merged with another streetcar company becoming Capital Traction Company, one of two in a Washington duopoly on streetcar transit (the other company being the Washington Railway and Electric Company). The Capital Traction company added the one-story addition filling in the rest of the block in 1909. When streetcars were phased out of DC in the late 1950s and 1960s, the Navy Yard was one of the last car barns to remain open, receiving the last streetcar on January 28, 1962.

Between 1862 and 1962, public transportation in the Washington, D.C. area included streetcars. The first streetcars were drawn by horses, but the introduction of electric streetcars greatly expanded the distance and range that could be serviced. These electric cars were powered by an overhead wire that was installed over the city streets. Although as technology advanced, it became apparent overhead wires would be the most efficient and cheap new way to power streetcars, in 1889, Congress passed a law banning streetcars from using overhead wires in the district. Therefore, streetcars had to use a system of conduits to receive power in the city. The East Capitol Street Car Barn was erected by the Metropolitan Railroad Company in 1896, just as the company was converting all of its lines to the electric conduit system. The Metropolitan was the second-largest streetcar company in the central DC area, serving as the main rival to the successful Washington and Georgetown railroad. The structure was part of a project to extend the Metropolitan's reach from East Capitol Street to 15th Street. It served as a car barn, repair shop, and administrative offices for the company. Designed by the prominent local architect Waddy Butler Wood, the L-shaped structure is constructed in the Romanesque Revival style. Waddy, most famous for his work on the Woodrow Wilson House and the Main Interior Building, built his reputation on large commissions for banks, commercial offices, and government buildings. The East Capitol Street Car Barn represents one of his early efforts. Many of his works have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places; this particular example was added in 1974. In 1899, The Metropolitan merged with the Washington Traction and Electric Company, which declared bankruptcy soon after. The property was acquired by the Washington Railway and Electric Company, which oversaw the development of the streetcar business into an efficient network of electric railways. WRECO later became Capital Transit under a merger with the former Washington and Georgetown, becoming one company known as Capital Transit, later becoming DC Transit. Until 1962, when the full transition to buses marked the end of the streetcar era in the Capital, the East Capitol Street Car Barn functioned as a storage and repair shop for electric cars. Subsequently, the building was used to store buses. In 1973, Metro acquired the DC Transit Company, which replaced it as the city's transit authority. The Car Barn then sat vacant until its purchase by a private developer. It was converted into a unique apartment complex and is now known as The Car Barn Condominiums. Today, it represents an important landmark in the history of D.C. transit. This building is not open to the public.

Designed by the prominent early 20th Century architect, Waddy Butler Wood, the East Capitol Street Car Barn serves as a notable example of the Romanesque Revival style. The building was constructed in 1896 to serve as a car barn, repair shop, and as administrative offices for the employees of the Metropolitan Railroad Company. This historic site is a reminder of the rapid development of Washington, D.C.'s transit system. After the DC Transit Company was acquired by METRO in 1973, the structure was re-purposed into privately-owned condominiums.

History of Streetcars in Washington, D.C.

Navy Yard Streetcar Barn

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information