Pennsylvania Avenue Line (Washington)

The Pennsylvania Avenue Line, served by Routes 32 and 36 (formerly served by Routes 30, 34, and 35 as well) is a Metrobus bus route in Washington, D.C., United States. Until the 1960s, it was a streetcar line, opened in 1862 by the Washington and Georgetown Railroad as the first line in the city.

Current state

Both routes begin at the Friendship Heights Metrorail station and follow Wisconsin Avenue to Georgetown, then Pennsylvania Avenue through downtown. Route 32 turns onto Naylor Road and 36 onto Branch Avenue. Route 32 ends at Southern Avenue station via Alabama Avenue, 36 ends at Naylor Road station.

Full-time service is provided by Routes 32 and 36, with select 32 trips running between McLean Gardens and Archives station during rush hour and select trips running between Southern Avenue station (32), and Naylor Road (36) to Potomac Park during rush hour as well. For timetable and map go to http://www.wmata.com/timetables/dc/30-36.pdf (effective date June 29, 2008).

History

The Pennsylvania Avenue Line was the main line of the Capital Traction Company, connecting Georgetown to the Navy Yard. As authorized in the charter, it began at M Street North and Wisconsin Avenue in Georgetown, and headed east and southeast across Rock Creek on the Pennsylvania Avenue Bridge (shared with the Washington Aqueduct). Because the White House and Capitol lie directly in the line of Pennsylvania Avenue, diversions were made around the White House to the north and east via 15th Street Northwest and around the south edge of the Capitol Grounds. At the time, this meant that it turned south along the current western boundary (First Street West) between the two traffic circles, but continued to curve southeast and east to the intersection of A Street South and First Street East, where Pennsylvania Avenue re-started. The line continued along Pennsylvania Avenue to Eighth Street Southeast, turning south to end at the Navy Yard. A branch to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad station ran northeast from Pennsylvania Avenue and First Street West to New Jersey Avenue and B Street North, heading east on B Street and south just east of the Capitol to rejoin the main line. [http://books.google.com/books?id=lrPplIV1LZEC Laws Relating to Street-Railway Franchises in the District of Columbia] , published by the Government Printing Office, 1896, pp. 11-15, 47-66] Samuel Augustus Mitchell, Plan of the City of Washington, 1870, accessed via the David Rumsey Map Collection] Trains began running between the Capitol and White House on July 29, 1862, and the line was extended west to Washington Circle on August 12, Georgetown on August 18, and east to the Navy Yard on October 2.Report of the president ond directors of the Washington and Georgetown Railroad to the stockholders, July 1863, printed in [http://books.google.com/books?id=VIQZAAAAIAAJ The Miscellaneous Documents of the Senate of the United States for the First Session Thirty-Eighth Congress] , Government Printing Office, 1864, document 11] Connections could also be made to the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station at Sixth Street once it opened in 1872.

On March 3, 1875, the Washington and Georgetown and Metropolitan Railroad were "directed to take up such portions of their tracks as may come in way of the improvement of the Capitol Grounds". This improvement gave the Capitol Grounds their present shape, bounded by First Street West and East and B Street North and South, and the Pennsylvania Avenue Line was moved to First Street West and B Street South. The B&O station branch was moved to First Avenue West and C Street North, ending at New Jersey Avenue; this had been the route of the B&O before its tracks (actually those of the Alexandria and Washington Railroad) were ripped up in 1872.Fact|date=May 2007

Also on March 3, 1875, the Washington and Georgetown was required to move its line from the Pennsylvania Avenue Bridge to the M Street Bridge via 26th Street West. The old bridge was reconstructed in the mid-1910s, with Capital Traction paying one-third of the cost, and cars moved back to Pennsylvania on July 7, 1916 (eastbound) and July 15 (westbound).Dr. William Tindall, Beginnings of Street Railways in the National Capital, printed in [http://books.google.com/books?id=ZUHrL7tQVS8C Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Volume 21] , published by the Columbia Historical Society, 1918, pp. 24-86]

On August 23, 1894, the company was required to, within a year, build a union station at the Georgetown end of the Aqueduct Bridge and extend its line west to it, where passengers could transfer to lines into Virginia.

The Pennsylvania Avenue Line was extended southeast to the Pennsylvania Avenue Bridge over the Anacostia River in the late 1890s, with some cars running there and some continuing to serve the Navy Yard.Fact|date=May 2007

A loop off the line through the West End of Washington was authorized on June 4, 1900 and opened on March 24, 1901. [Washington Post, Cars on F and G Streets, March 24, 1901] Westbound cars could turn south on 17th Street West, west on G Street North, and north on 25th Street West to return to Pennsylvania Avenue, while the eastbound track was laid in 26th Street West, F Street North, and 17th Street West. A track in G Street between 25th and 26th Streets allowed for a short-turn service, reversing direction at 26th Street.C. S. Hammond & Co., [http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/maps/usa/hammonds1910/cities/washington-dc.jpgMap of Washington] , 1908] Greeters of America, [http://books.google.com/books?id=VLqCT8qwcosC Greeters' Guide to Washington] , 1922, pp. 61-63]

On May 23, 1908, Congress authorized extensions of several companies to serve the new Union Station. The Capital Traction's branch to the old B&O station was extended east on C Street and northeast on Delaware Avenue to the station, and a second route between this branch and the tracks towards the east ran via First Street East and B Street North to Delaware Avenue (over trackage owned by other companies ).

A second loop through the West End was approved on December 7, 1916, from Pennsylvania Avenue south to Virginia Avenue near West Potomac Park via 18th and 19th Streets. [Washington Post, Track Extension Approved, December 10, 1916]

On December 2, 1923, Capital Traction began crossing the Key Bridge, which replaced the old Aqueduct Bridge, to a loop in Rosslyn, and the Northern Virginia lines that had crossed the bridge were cut back to that point. [Washington Post, Cars to Begin Running on Key Bridge Sunday, November 30, 1923]

After consolidation

After Capital Traction and the Washington Railway and Electric Company were merged in 1933 to form the Capital Transit Company, some of the redundant lines were abandoned. This included the WR&E's Georgetown Line between Connecticut and Wisconsin Avenues, resulting in Cabin John Line and Tennallytown Line cars, and cars of other lines that ran to Georgetown, being routed via Pennsylvania Avenue between Georgetown and the White House. Other lines, such as the Columbia Line between the White House and Kenilworth, were extended over the Pennsylvania Avenue Line. When numbers were assigned to the car routes in 1936, the following regular routes used the Pennsylvania Avenue Line:
*10, Rosslyn to Kenilworth via the Pennsylvania Avenue Line and ex-WR&E Columbia Line (discontinued May 1, 1949)
*20, Cabin John to Union Station via the ex-WR&E Cabin John Line and Pennsylvania Avenue Line (discontinued January 3, 1960)
*30, Friendship Heights to Barney Circle via the ex-WR&E Tennallytown Line and Pennsylvania Avenue Line (discontinued January 3, 1960)
*54, Brightwood to the Navy Yard via the Fourteenth Street Line and Pennsylvania Avenue Line (discontinued January 28, 1962)
*80, Rosslyn to Brookland via the Pennsylvania Avenue Line and ex-WR&E Brookland Line (discontinued September 7, 1958)
*82, Potomac Park to Branchville via the Pennsylvania Avenue Line and ex-WR&E Maryland Line (discontinued September 7, 1958)
*90, Calvert Street Bridge to Barney Circle via the U Street Line, New Jersey Avenue Line, and Pennsylvania Avenue Line (discontinued January 28, 1962)In addition, Route 92 served the line on Eighth Street Southeast to the Navy Yard via the Florida Avenue Line, but did not use Pennsylvania Avenue.

Thus Pennsylvania Avenue Line streetcars (Route 30) were discontinued on January 3, 1960, and the tracks east of 14th Street Northwest were last used on January 28, 1962. Route 54 buses still serve a small part of Pennsylvania Avenue.

The East Washington Heights Traction Company's streetcars, which ran from Barney Circle to Randle Highlands via the Sousa Bridge, were replaced by buses on December 1, 1923, numbered Route C2 in 1936. This became Routes 32 and 34 when it was through-routed with the Pennsylvania Avenue Line.

The Capital Traction Company began operating buses to Hillcrest and Good Hope on December 23, 1924, [Washington Post, Good Hope Bus Service Begun, December 24, 1924] numbered Route C6 in 1936. This became Routes 35 and 36 when through-routed.

As of June 29, 2008 the 30's line is now known as the 32, 36. The 30, 34, and 35 routes have been discontinued.

References