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 Seat Pleasant is an incorporated city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, located immediately east of Washington D.C.. Per the 2020 census, the population was 4,522. Two state highways pass through the community — Maryland ro ...

, 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 The Washington Railway and Electric Company (WREC) was the larger of the two major streetcar companies in Washington, D.C., and its Maryland suburbs in the early decades of the 20th century. Founded as the Washington and Great Falls Electric Rai ...

Origins

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 K Street is a major thoroughfare in the United States capital of Washington, D.C., known as a center for lobbying and the location of numerous advocacy groups, law firms, trade associations, and think tanks. In political discourse, "K Street" h ...

(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 A stable is a building in which working animals are kept, especially horses or oxen. The building is usually divided into stalls, and may include storage for equipment and feed. Styles There are many different types of stables in use tod ...

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 Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

. The Columbia originally ran one-man one horse cars called "bobtails" but these were so unpopular that they led to a rider's strike. As a result,

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

banned the short cars in 1892.

Switch to mechanical and electrical power

On March 2, 1889, the District authorized every streetcar company in Washington to switch from

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

power to underground cable or to

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

provided by

battery Battery or batterie most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source * Battery indicator, a device whic ...

or underground

wire file:Sample cross-section of high tension power (pylon) line.jpg, Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample d ...

. In 1890, companies were authorized to sell

stock Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...

to pay for the upgrades, provided they did not involve overhead wires. In 1892, one-horse cars were banned within the city, and by 1894, Congress began requiring companies to switch to something other than horse power while continuing to disallow overhead lines within the city. In order to comply with the new rules, the Columbia Railway decided to try a cable system, the last cable car system built in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. They built a new cable car barn and began operating the system on March 9, 1895, but it soon became clear that the underground electrical system was superior. It abandoned cable cars and switched to electrical power generated by the power plant built to power its cable operation on July 22, 1899. The last cable car in the city ran the next day. The Columbia won permission in 1898 to build a line east along Benning Road NE. Since this route was outside the city as defined at the time, overhead wires could be used to provide electric power. The line split on the east side of the Anacostia. One branch ran to

Kenilworth Kenilworth ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Warwick (district), Warwick District of Warwickshire, England, southwest of Coventry and north of both Warwick and Leamington Spa. Situated at the centre of t ...

, and the other connected at Seat Pleasant with the terminus of the

steam-powered A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be tra ...

Chesapeake Beach Railway The Chesapeake Beach Railway (CBR), now defunct, was an American railroad of southern Maryland and Washington, D.C., built in the 19th century. The CBR ran 27.629 miles from Washington, D.C., on tracks laid by the Southern Maryland Railroad and ...

The end of the line

Between 1896 and 1899, three businessmen purchased controlling interests in several streetcar companies, including the Columbia Railway Company. They incorporated the Washington Traction and Electric Company on June 5, 1899, as a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

for these interests. But the holding company had borrowed too heavily and paid too much for the subsidiaries and was quickly in financial trouble. So on June 5, 1900, Congress authorized the Washington and Great Falls Railway 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 the

, 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 Columbia Railway Company.

Notes

External links

Columbia Railway streetcar photo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Columbia Railway Railway companies established in 1870 Railway companies disestablished in 1902 Defunct Washington, D.C., railroads American companies established in 1870 1902 disestablishments in Washington, D.C. American companies disestablished in 1902 Streetcars in Washington, D.C.