Posts tagged Streetcar Suburbs
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Here’s how neighborhoods west of Kenilworth Avenue in Northeast DC became isolated from the city
The neighborhoods of River Terrace, Parkside, Mayfair, Eastland Gardens, and Kenilworth in Northeast DC are isolated from the rest of the District by the Anacostia River to the northwest and DC Route 295 to the southeast. While these neighborhoods are very isolated and contain some of the lowest-income Census block groups in the District today, they were sited to take advantage of direct transportation routes to downtown and built for higher-income professionals. Keep reading…
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Did Baltimore have the first electric el?
A while back I wrote about Baltimore’s Guilford Avenue el, which opened to electric streetcars in May 1893. It’s sometimes described as the country’s first electrified el and its first elevated trolley, but that isn’t strictly true. However, it was electrified before the better-known New York and Chicago elevated lines. Keep reading…
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Here’s how neighborhoods west of Kenilworth Avenue in Northeast DC became isolated from the city
The neighborhoods of River Terrace, Parkside, Mayfair, Eastland Gardens, and Kenilworth in Northeast DC are isolated from the rest of the District by the Anacostia River to the northwest and DC Route 295 to the southeast. While these neighborhoods are very isolated and contain some of the lowest-income Census block groups in the District today, they were sited to take advantage of direct transportation routes to downtown and built for higher-income professionals. Keep reading…
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The Chevy Chase Trolley station that moved to the country
When the Chevy Chase Land Company started developing land north of Rock Creek Park in 1890, they built a streetcar to connect it to Washington, DC. That streetcar line ended at Chevy Chase Lake on Connecticutt Avenue, just south of the Georgetown Branch, where a small building on the west side served as a waiting station and office. Keep reading…
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How DC’s first electric streetcar helped build Eckington
Streetcars ran in the District from 1862 to 1962, and DC got its first electric streetcar in 1888 when the Eckington & Soldiers Home Railway went into operation. A ban on overhead wires kept it from running downtown, and the company ultimately went out of business because it couldn’t find another option. Keep reading…
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Did Baltimore have the first electric el?
Last week I wrote about Baltimore’s Guilford Avenue el, which opened to electric streetcars in May 1893. It’s sometimes described as the country’s first electrified el and its first elevated trolley, but that isn’t strictly true. However, it was electrified before the better-known New York and Chicago elevated lines. Keep reading…
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The Chevy Chase Trolley station that moved to the country
When the Chevy Chase Land Company started developing land north of Rock Creek Park in 1890, they built a streetcar to connect it to Washington, DC. That streetcar line ended at Chevy Chase Lake on Connecticutt Avenue, just south of the Georgetown Branch, where a small building on the west side served as a waiting station and office. Keep reading…
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Where you live is obviously important. But around here, it’s not that easy to define.
When we think of a “town” or “city” we might imagine a place with fixed boundaries and its own government, with a mayor and council. That's how communities are organized in most of the United States. But in much of Maryland and Virginia, “city government” doesn't really exist. Keep reading…