page_title: Streetcars in Washington, D.C.
section_title: Eckington and Soldiers' Home
hierarchical_section_title: Streetcars in Washington, D.C. / History / The switch to electric power / New electric streetcar companies / Eckington and Soldiers' Home
caption_attribution_description: English: Opening day, Eckington and Soldiers’ Home Railway at the terminus of the line at Seventh Street and New York Avenue, NW
context_page_description: Streetcars in Washington, D.C. transported people across the city and region from 1862 until 1962.
  The first streetcars in Washington, D.C., were drawn by horses and carried people short distances on flat terrain; but the introduction of cleaner and faster electric streetcars, capable of climbing steeper inclines, opened up the hilly suburbs north of the old city and in Anacostia. Several of the district's streetcar lines were extended into Maryland, and two Virginia lines crossed into the district. The city experimented briefly with cable cars, but by the beginning of the 20th century, the streetcar system was fully electrified. By 1901, a series of mergers dubbed the "Great Streetcar Consolidation" gathered most local transit firms into two major companies. In 1933, a second consolidation brought all streetcars under one company, Capital Transit. Over the next decades, the streetcar system shrank amid the rising popularity of the automobile and pressure to switch to buses. After a strike in 1955, the company changed ownership and became DC Transit, with explicit instructions to switch to buses.
context_section_description: By 1888, Washington was expanding north of Boundary Street NW into the hills of Washington Heights and Petworth. Boundary Street was becoming such a misnomer that in 1890 it was renamed Florida Avenue. Climbing the hills to the new parts of the city was difficult for horses, but electric streetcars could do it easily. In the year following the successful demonstration of the Richmond streetcar, four electric streetcar companies were incorporated in Washington, D.C.  The Eckington and Soldiers' Home Railway was the first to charter, on June 19, 1888, and started operation on October 17. Its tracks started at 7th Street and New York Avenue NW, east of Mount Vernon Square, and traveled 2.5 miles to the Eckington Car Barn at 4th and T Streets NE via Boundary Street NE, Eckington Place NE, R Street NE, 3rd Street NE and T Street NE. Another line ran up 4th Street NE to Michigan Avenue NE. A one-week pass cost $1.25. In 1889, the line was extended along T Street NE, 2nd Street NE and V Street NE to Glenwood Cemetery, but the extension proved unprofitable and was closed in 1894. At the same time, an extension was built along Michigan Avenue NE to the B&O railroad tracks. In 1895, the company removed its overhead trolley lines in accordance with its charter and attempted to replace them with batteries. These proved too costly and the company replaced them with horses in the central city. In 1896, Congress directed the Eckington and Soldier's Home to try compressed air motors and to substitute underground electric power for all its horse and overhead trolley lines in the city. The compressed-air motors were a failure and in 1899 the company switched to the standard underground electric power conduit.
caption: Opening day, Eckington and Soldiers’ Home Railway at the terminus of the line at Seventh Street and New York Avenue, NW
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