Metropolitan Railroad

The Metropolitan Railroad was the second streetcar company to operate in Washington, D.C., 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 Mt. 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.

The Metropolitan Railroad Company, was incorporated on July 1, 1864, two years after the Washington and Georgetown Railroad Company. It opened two lines. One from the Capitol to the War Department at 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.

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. The Union, chartered on January 19, 1872, was to lay track 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. The Metropolitan used the Union's charter to build a line into Georgetown.

The Boundary and Silver Spring Railway Company was purchased by the Metropolitan in 1873. The Boundary and Silver Spring, also chartered on January 19, 1872, was to run a streetcar from Boundary Street NW to the Maryland-D.C. boundary along the Washington City and Rockville Turnpike (now Georgia Avenue NW). Again, the Metropolitan only purchased a charter and used it to run streetcars along Georgia Avenue all the way to Rock Creek Church Road NW.

In 1874, the Metropolitan acquired the Connecticut Avenue and Park Railway. The Connecticut Avenue and Park was chartered on July 13, 1868. This line started at the terminus of the Metropolitan at 17th and H Streets NW and ran north up Connecticut Avenue NW to Boundary Street NW. The streetcar line did not continue up Connecticut Avenue NW from this point because the grade was too steep for the horse-drawn cars. Operation of this line began in April 1873. Though tracks were laid on Connecticut Avenue NW north of P Street NW, cars did not run on this portion until 1883 when local residents petitioned Metropolitan to begin a shuttle service.

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