Columbia Railway

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.

Chartered by Congress on May 24, 1870, and beginning operations the same year, the Columbia Railway Company was the city’s third horse car operator. Its route began at 15th Street and New York Avenue NW, where it intersected the Washington and Georgetown line, and continued east on New York Avenue NW to K Street NW (at that time the location of the Northern Liberties Market, now Mt. Vernon Square). From K Street NW, it went south on Massachusetts Avenue NW to H Street NW and all the way across H Street to the city boundary at 15th Street NE, a round trip distance of five miles. The line began as a single track with turnouts for cars to pass, but a double track was added by 1872. The company built a car barn and stable on the east side of 15th Street just south of H Street at the eastern end of the line. By 1883, the company was running 15 cars, each making 11 trips daily. There were 52 horses in the stable and 34 employees. The Columbia originally ran one-man one horse cars called "bobtails" but these were so unpopular that it led to a rider's strike. As a result Congress banned the short cars in 1892.

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