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49-594: 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. An amendment, approved March 3, 1865, allowed certain branches and extensions, including among them

98-548: 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

147-491: 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. 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

196-561: A large retaining wall, which were built at the time the Car Barn was constructed, to connect M and Prospect Streets. The steps are so named as they provided the location for the scene in the 1973 horror film The Exorcist where the priest is thrown down the stairs to his death. The next-door resident of the Prospect House , who furnished affidavits by prominent architects, opposed the building's construction by stating that blasting from

245-548: A large-scale re-design of the Barn, which began in 1910. The entrances to the building were extended to accommodate the larger cars, and a new elevator was installed to lift streetcars to the roof. This transition required a near-complete reconstruction of the building. The steel support beams were replaced, and the hipped roofs were replaced so the entire façade could be extended toward M Street and heightened to allow more office space. The central tower, which once rose prominently above

294-615: 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. Washington and Georgetown Railroad [REDACTED] The Washington and Georgetown Railroad Company (or Washington and Georgetown Railway Company)

343-743: 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. 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

392-492: The Capital Traction Company , D.S. Carll, was in charge of the construction. Before the Car Barn's construction began, a steep hillside that 36th Street climbed stood between M and Prospect Streets. Large amounts of earth were excavated—80,000 cubic yards (61,000 m ) in total—resulting in the sharp cliff that exists today. Adjacent to the Car Barn are a set of stairs commonly known as the " Exorcist steps " and

441-559: The Capital Traction Company . In 1852, side-bearing rail streetcar tracks were developed in New York City . Beginning in 1858, New York City businessmen began trying to bring streetcar service to Washington, D.C. , where transit consisted of horse-drawn wagons ( omnibuses ) on several lines. On May 17, 1862, the United States Congress enacted legislation that incorporated the first Washington streetcar company. A provision in

490-723: 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

539-648: The Central Intelligence Agency (though officially part of the Agency for International Development ) that trained Latin American police forces. Members of these forces met at the Car Barn until the program was shut down in 1975. In 1986, the building underwent renovations, overseen by Arthur Cotton Moore /Associates. In 1992, the owner of the DC Transit System, O. Roy Chalk , was subject to foreclosure, and

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588-545: The City of Alexandria . Other trolleys were later expected to enter the building after traveling along the projected route of the Great Falls and Old Dominion Railroad . The station operated as Washington's only cable car trolley terminal for less than a year. Almost immediately after the building opened, Capital Traction converted it to enable the company to operate the new electric streetcars. The Virginia lines never made use of

637-551: The Navy Yard Car Barn across from the Navy Yard to service the new cars. The company built two powerhouses to provide electricity for the system, one at 14th Street NW and E Street NW and the other at 7th Street SW and P Street SW. In the middle of the intersection of 14th Street NW and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, a large wheel pit was constructed. On August 23, 1894, the company was authorized to extend its line on M Street NW to

686-518: The Rock Creek Railway to purchase the Washington and Georgetown. It did so on September 21, 1895, forming the Capital Traction Company , the first company created during "the great streetcar consolidation" and spelling the end of the Washington and Georgetown Railroad Company as a separate entity. [REDACTED] Georgetown Car Barn The Georgetown Car Barn , historically known as

735-520: The Treasury Building . In 1877, the company built a car barn at 13th and Boundary Streets NW. The company expanded the facility several times over the next 15 years, adding a blacksmith shop in 1878. The omnibus company that existed before the introduction of streetcars was forced out of business. The Washington and Georgetown line then purchased the company's stables to be used as a car barn and, much later, as machine shops. On March 2, 1889,

784-629: The Washington Railway and Electric Company , which increased the number of office workers at the building. These changes involved removing the roof in the center of the building, creating a lightwell on the third floor, converting the third floor into office space, and removing the covered passageway on the roof. The last streetcar operations at the Car Barn ended with the closure of the Rosslyn– Benning Line on April 30, 1949. The building continued to store streetcars until May 1950. Toward

833-446: The 1889 law was passed, the Washington and Georgetown began installing an underground cable system, adding five new facilities to handle the cable operations. The 7th Street line was switched to a cable car system on April 12, 1890, with 16 cars traveling on the route at 6 mph (9.7 km/h) at three-minute intervals , from 5 a.m. to 1   a.m. daily. The entire system was in operation by August 18, 1892, with two cables pulling

882-573: The Aqueduct Bridge, and build a "Union Station"—now the Georgetown Car Barn . By the mid-1890s, there were numerous streetcar companies operating in the District. Congress tried to deal with this fractured transit system by requiring them to accept transfers and set standard pricing and by allowing them to use one another's track. But eventually it became clear that consolidation was the best solution. On March 1, 1895, Congress authorized

931-588: The Car Barn for $ 70 million. The building today has four floors and has a floor area of 81,765 square feet (7,596 m ). Remnants of streetcar tracks and their central electrical conduit remain visible outside of the garage's east door on M Street. The Car Barn is considered a contributing property of the Georgetown Historic District , which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 28, 1967. On January 24, 2019,

980-481: The Car Barn was listed on the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites . In recommending that the District of Columbia Historic Preservation Review Board designate a historic landmark on the Car Barn as a D.C. Inventory of Historic Sites, the D.C. Historic Preservation Office described the Car Barn as "the most significant extant example of a terminal or depot" in Washington, D.C. The National Park Service added

1029-446: The District authorized every streetcar company in Washington to switch from horse power to underground cable or to electricity provided by battery or underground wires ( overhead wires were banned). The following year, companies were authorized to sell stock to pay for the upgrades. In 1892, one-horse cars were banned within the city, and by 1894, Congress began requiring companies to switch from horse power. Immediately after

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1078-573: The Metropolitan acquired the Connecticut Avenue and Park Railway. Its charter of July 13, 1868, 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 but only as far north as P Street, and presently the city paved over the tracks between P and Boundary. In 1883, after residents of Washington Heights petitioned

1127-588: 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. 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

1176-528: The Navy Yard, stopping at M St SE and 8th St SE. A second line opened on November 15, 1862. It was built along 7th Street NW from N Street NW to the Potomac River . The following year, the 7th Street line was extended north to Boundary Street NW . It expanded south to the Arsenal (now Fort McNair ) in 1875. A third line, built by 1870, ran down 14th Street NW from Boundary Street NW (now Florida Avenue) to

1225-549: 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 . 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

1274-891: 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. 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. In June 1874,

1323-464: The building came under the ownership of the Lutheran Brotherhood . The Car Barn was purchased in 1997 by Douglas Development Corporation and it was renovated the following year. RTKL Associates oversaw additional renovations in 1999. Georgetown University began leasing space in the Car Barn in the 1950s. The university initially used the building's first floor as garage space. In 2017,

1372-426: The building's decorations reflect its original function, including the pediment that faces M Street. The pediment, which contains the words "Capital Traction Company", displays three decorative flywheels of the type that pull cables. The M Street-facing first floor served the Washington and Georgetown Railroad . The Metropolitan Railroad used the roof, which had a covered walkway for passengers to travel between

1421-466: The building's lower roofline on M street, became less prominent. These modifications were complete in 1911. Further conversions of track space to office space occurred between 1921 and 1922. Extensive remodeling occurred again in 1933 with the designation of the Car Barn as the headquarters of the new Capital Transit Company, as a result of the merger between the Capital Traction Company and

1470-404: The cars up and down Pennsylvania Avenue NW/SE between the Navy Yard and Georgetown. In 1892, the railroad extended its track along 14th to Mount Pleasant Street NW (now Park Road NW) and built a new barn there. It moved the cars from the barn at 13th Street and Florida Avenue NW to the new one and sold the older facility, which was converted into a printing plant. In 1893, the company built

1519-493: The company. It built a loop on 35th and 36th Streets NW to Prospect Street NW to connect it to the Georgetown Car Barn . 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 ); An Act of Congress passed on February 27, 1897, allowed

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1568-446: The construction was damaging her house. This led to court-ordered supervision of the blasting in 1894. After the Car Barn's construction, the large edifice obstructed the view of the Potomac River and Virginia from homes on Prospect Street, including the well-known cottage of E. D. E. N. Southworth . For this reason, some considered it a "desecration" of the local scenery. The three-story, 180-by-242-foot (55 by 74 m) building

1617-599: The end of 1952, the first floor was converted into office space. When the Capital Transit Company merged with its competitors, the building came under the ownership of its new corporate successor, the DC Transit System, in 1956. By then, the building had fallen into such a state of disrepair that the company deliberated over whether to demolish it entirely. Seeking to preserve the historic structure, it elected to redevelop it. The building underwent considerable interior renovations between 1957 and 1960, intended to turn

1666-524: The initial construction to connect M Street with Prospect Street. The Car Barn, built for use as a passenger station and to store streetcars, was also the terminal for Washington's only cable car system. Almost immediately after the building opened, Capital Traction converted its streetcar lines to electrical power and modified the Car Barn to suit. Still, the building was never used to the extent anticipated by its builders. The building has undergone several renovations. The most extensive, in 1911, modified

1715-635: The intersection of High Street and Bridge Street (today's Wisconsin Avenue NW and M Street NW ) in Georgetown along Bridge Street to Pennsylvania Avenue. The line then traveled along Pennsylvania Avenue and passed the White House and the foot of the Capitol. From there it went north on 1st St NW one block, then east on B St NW/NE for two blocks, then south across the grounds of the Capitol to its east and back onto Pennsylvania Avenue. It then traveled southeast on Pennsylvania to 8th St SE where it turned south to

1764-625: The law authorized the Washington and Georgetown Railroad Company ("Washington and Georgetown Railway Company", according to some official sources) to build three street horsecar lines. The first streetcar started running on Pennsylvania Avenue NW from the Capitol building to the State Department on July 29, 1862. Full operations, from the Navy Yard to Georgetown on Pennsylvania Avenue NW/SE, began on October 2, 1862. The horsecars traveled from

1813-529: The north end of the Aqueduct Bridge . The legislation required that the railroad erect at the site a union passenger station in order to accommodate the street railway traffic expected to converge at or near the bridge. The legislation limited the station's use to street railways only. Construction on the building then known as Union Station began in early 1895 under the architectural direction of Waddy Butler Wood . The superintendent and chief engineer of

1862-538: The original Romanesque Revival façade and almost completely gutted the interior. Changing ownership over time, it maintained its original function of housing streetcars until 1950, when it was redeveloped as office space. Among its occupants was the International Police Academy , an arm of the Central Intelligence Agency , which operated out of the Car Barn in the 1960s and 1970s. Today, it is an academic building owned by Georgetown University . In 2019, it

1911-468: The railroad to bring service to their neighborhood, the Metropolitan exhumed the tracks and established a shuttle service between P and Boundary. 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. 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

1960-408: 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. The Metropolitan switched the rest of its system to electric power on July 7, 1896, which proved a big year for

2009-561: 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. In 1872, it began operations on a 9th Street line with a terminus on M Street NW. 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

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2058-554: The street and the elevator. Because of the lay of the land in the building's vicinity, other streetcars, including those serving the city's suburbs, would reach the building's second and third floors from steel trestles . Capital Traction expected trolleys to cross the Potomac River from Rosslyn on the nearby Aqueduct Bridge. At the time, those trolleys were traveling or would soon travel between downtown Washington, Arlington County (then named Alexandria County), Falls Church and

2107-491: The structure entirely into an office building. Sometime before 1966, a clock was added to the exterior of the tower. This involved lowering the ceilings, which were previously designed to accommodate the height of the streetcars. The building was included in the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1967. Beginning in late 1963, the Car Barn was home to the International Police Academy , operated by

2156-490: The terminal. The Metropolitan Railroad originally intended to place storage tracks on the roof of the building, but never did. Although regarded as well-designed before 1900, the Car Barn began a period of deterioration and neglect lasting for 50 years. The first stage of the transition from a trolley station to an office building was carried out between 1906 and 1908 when portions of the second floor were converted into office space. The electrification of streetcars necessitated

2205-514: 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 , but still had drawbacks. In the winter, the plow would get jammed by snow and ice ; in the summer, the conduits swelled shut. In 1895, Metropolitan built a massive, Romanesque -style car barn on the corner of 4th and P Streets SW. But

2254-602: The university completed a renovation of the building's first floor to provide space for the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the Georgetown University Press . A new lounge located in the southwest corner of the building featured floor-to-ceiling glass windows that increased window space by partly or completely replacing garage doors. The project also renovated the floor's more easterly M Street windows and entry doors. In 2022, Georgetown University purchased

2303-501: Was listed on the National Register of Historic Places . In 1761, a tobacco warehouse was constructed at the Car Barn's site. During the Civil War , the site became home to some of the city's horse-drawn streetcars . On August 23, 1894, after the city's streetcars had begun to switch to electric power , Congress authorized an extension of the Washington and Georgetown Railroad to the intersection of 36th and M Streets, directly north of

2352-480: Was opened on May 27, 1897, containing offices for the several tenant trolley companies and waiting rooms that were decorated with red oak wainscot panelling , ornate iron stair railings, and stuccoed ceilings. The exterior was designed in the Romanesque Revival style . The building's tower reached a height of 140 feet (43 m) and contained an elevator that shuttled passengers between the terminals. Many of

2401-408: 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

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