page_title: Anacostia and Potomac River Railroad
section_title: Origins
hierarchical_section_title: Anacostia and Potomac River Railroad / Origins
caption_attribution_description: English: This map is a combination of two U.S. Geological Service maps. The 1886 Northwest Quadrant of the Upper Marlboro-East Washington, DC Quadrangle map and the 1885 Northeast Quadrant of the West Washington, DC Quadrangle map. These were then modified (cut, drawn on and legend added). URLs (http://historical.maptech.com/getImage.cfm?fname=wwsh85ne.jpg&amp;state=DC and http://historical.maptech.com/getImage.cfm?fname=ewsh86nw.jpg&amp;state=DC). These documents are the work of a U.S. Government Agency first published before 1923. My modifications I release to the public domain.
context_page_description: The Anacostia and Potomac River Railroad Company was the fourth streetcar company to operate in Washington, D.C., and the first to cross the Anacostia River. It was chartered in 1870, authorized by Congress in 1875 and built later that year. The line ran from the Arsenal to Union Town. It expanded, adding lines to Congressional Cemetery, Central Market and to the Government Hospital for the Insane; and in the late 1890s it purchased two other companies and expanded their lines. It was reluctant to change its operations, but in 1900 it relented to pressure and became the last company to switch from horse cars to electric streetcars. It was one of the few companies not to be swept up by the two major streetcar companies at the turn of the 20th century, but it could not hold out forever and on August 31, 1912, it was purchased by the Washington Railway and Electric Company and ceased to operate as a unique entity.
context_section_description: The Anacostia and Potomac River Railroad was chartered on May 5, 1870, given approval by Congress on February 18, 1875 and constructed across the Anacostia River later that year. The streetcars traveled from the Arsenal, along M Street SW/SE and 11th Street SE, and crossed the Navy Yard Bridge to Uniontown (now Historic Anacostia). The route then led down Nichols Avenue SE (now Martin Luther King Avenue) to V Street SE where a car barn and stables were maintained by the company.
caption: Map of the Washington, D.C. Streetcar System at the end of the Horse Car era in 1888
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