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Georgetown Car Barn
The Georgetown Car Barn, historically known as the Capital Traction Company Union Station, is a building in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C., in the United States. Designed by the architect Waddy Butler Wood, it was built between 1895 and 1897 by the Capital Traction Company as a union terminal for several Washington and Virginia streetcar lines. The adjacent Exorcist steps, later named after their appearance in William Friedkin's 1973 horror film The Exorcist, were built during the initial construction to connect M Street with Prospect Street.
The Car Barn, built for use as a passenger station and to store streetcars, was also the terminal for Washington's only cable car system. Almost immediately after the building opened, Capital Traction converted its streetcar lines to electrical power and modified the Car Barn to suit. Still, the building was never used to the extent anticipated by its builders.
The building has undergone several renovations. The most extensive, in 1911, modified the original Romanesque Revival façade and almost completely gutted the interior. Changing ownership over time, it maintained its original function of housing streetcars until 1950, when it was redeveloped as office space. Among its occupants was the International Police Academy, an arm of the Central Intelligence Agency, which operated out of the Car Barn in the 1960s and 1970s. Today, it is an academic building owned by Georgetown University. In 2019, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1761, a tobacco warehouse was constructed at the Car Barn's site. During the Civil War, the site became home to some of the city's horse-drawn streetcars. On August 23, 1894, after the city's streetcars had begun to switch to electric power, Congress authorized an extension of the Washington and Georgetown Railroad to the intersection of 36th and M Streets, directly north of the north end of the Aqueduct Bridge. The legislation required that the railroad erect at the site a union passenger station in order to accommodate the street railway traffic expected to converge at or near the bridge. The legislation limited the station's use to street railways only.
Construction on the building then known as Union Station began in early 1895 under the architectural direction of Waddy Butler Wood. The superintendent and chief engineer of the Capital Traction Company, D.S. Carll, was in charge of the construction. Before the Car Barn's construction began, a steep hillside that 36th Street climbed stood between M and Prospect Streets. Large amounts of earth were excavated—80,000 cubic yards (61,000 m3) in total—resulting in the sharp cliff that exists today. Adjacent to the Car Barn are a set of stairs commonly known as the "Exorcist steps" and a large retaining wall, which were built at the time the Car Barn was constructed, to connect M and Prospect Streets. The steps are so named as they provided the location for the scene in the 1973 horror film The Exorcist where the priest is thrown down the stairs to his death.
The next-door resident of the Prospect House, who furnished affidavits by prominent architects, opposed the building's construction by stating that blasting from the construction was damaging her house. This led to court-ordered supervision of the blasting in 1894. After the Car Barn's construction, the large edifice obstructed the view of the Potomac River and Virginia from homes on Prospect Street, including the well-known cottage of E. D. E. N. Southworth. For this reason, some considered it a "desecration" of the local scenery.
The three-story, 180-by-242-foot (55 by 74 m) building was opened on May 27, 1897, containing offices for the several tenant trolley companies and waiting rooms that were decorated with red oak wainscot panelling, ornate iron stair railings, and stuccoed ceilings. The exterior was designed in the Romanesque Revival style. The building's tower reached a height of 140 feet (43 m) and contained an elevator that shuttled passengers between the terminals. Many of the building's decorations reflect its original function, including the pediment that faces M Street. The pediment, which contains the words "Capital Traction Company", displays three decorative flywheels of the type that pull cables.
The M Street-facing first floor served the Washington and Georgetown Railroad. The Metropolitan Railroad used the roof, which had a covered walkway for passengers to travel between the street and the elevator. Because of the lay of the land in the building's vicinity, other streetcars, including those serving the city's suburbs, would reach the building's second and third floors from steel trestles.
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Georgetown Car Barn
The Georgetown Car Barn, historically known as the Capital Traction Company Union Station, is a building in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C., in the United States. Designed by the architect Waddy Butler Wood, it was built between 1895 and 1897 by the Capital Traction Company as a union terminal for several Washington and Virginia streetcar lines. The adjacent Exorcist steps, later named after their appearance in William Friedkin's 1973 horror film The Exorcist, were built during the initial construction to connect M Street with Prospect Street.
The Car Barn, built for use as a passenger station and to store streetcars, was also the terminal for Washington's only cable car system. Almost immediately after the building opened, Capital Traction converted its streetcar lines to electrical power and modified the Car Barn to suit. Still, the building was never used to the extent anticipated by its builders.
The building has undergone several renovations. The most extensive, in 1911, modified the original Romanesque Revival façade and almost completely gutted the interior. Changing ownership over time, it maintained its original function of housing streetcars until 1950, when it was redeveloped as office space. Among its occupants was the International Police Academy, an arm of the Central Intelligence Agency, which operated out of the Car Barn in the 1960s and 1970s. Today, it is an academic building owned by Georgetown University. In 2019, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1761, a tobacco warehouse was constructed at the Car Barn's site. During the Civil War, the site became home to some of the city's horse-drawn streetcars. On August 23, 1894, after the city's streetcars had begun to switch to electric power, Congress authorized an extension of the Washington and Georgetown Railroad to the intersection of 36th and M Streets, directly north of the north end of the Aqueduct Bridge. The legislation required that the railroad erect at the site a union passenger station in order to accommodate the street railway traffic expected to converge at or near the bridge. The legislation limited the station's use to street railways only.
Construction on the building then known as Union Station began in early 1895 under the architectural direction of Waddy Butler Wood. The superintendent and chief engineer of the Capital Traction Company, D.S. Carll, was in charge of the construction. Before the Car Barn's construction began, a steep hillside that 36th Street climbed stood between M and Prospect Streets. Large amounts of earth were excavated—80,000 cubic yards (61,000 m3) in total—resulting in the sharp cliff that exists today. Adjacent to the Car Barn are a set of stairs commonly known as the "Exorcist steps" and a large retaining wall, which were built at the time the Car Barn was constructed, to connect M and Prospect Streets. The steps are so named as they provided the location for the scene in the 1973 horror film The Exorcist where the priest is thrown down the stairs to his death.
The next-door resident of the Prospect House, who furnished affidavits by prominent architects, opposed the building's construction by stating that blasting from the construction was damaging her house. This led to court-ordered supervision of the blasting in 1894. After the Car Barn's construction, the large edifice obstructed the view of the Potomac River and Virginia from homes on Prospect Street, including the well-known cottage of E. D. E. N. Southworth. For this reason, some considered it a "desecration" of the local scenery.
The three-story, 180-by-242-foot (55 by 74 m) building was opened on May 27, 1897, containing offices for the several tenant trolley companies and waiting rooms that were decorated with red oak wainscot panelling, ornate iron stair railings, and stuccoed ceilings. The exterior was designed in the Romanesque Revival style. The building's tower reached a height of 140 feet (43 m) and contained an elevator that shuttled passengers between the terminals. Many of the building's decorations reflect its original function, including the pediment that faces M Street. The pediment, which contains the words "Capital Traction Company", displays three decorative flywheels of the type that pull cables.
The M Street-facing first floor served the Washington and Georgetown Railroad. The Metropolitan Railroad used the roof, which had a covered walkway for passengers to travel between the street and the elevator. Because of the lay of the land in the building's vicinity, other streetcars, including those serving the city's suburbs, would reach the building's second and third floors from steel trestles.