Capital Traction Company Car Barn

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Capital Traction Company Car Barn
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Location4615 14th St., NW., Washington, District of Columbia
Coordinates 38°56′50″N77°01′56″W / 38.94722°N 77.03222°W / 38.94722; -77.03222
Area7.3 acres (3.0 ha)
Built1906
ArchitectWood, Donn & Deming
Architectural styleRenaissance
NRHP reference No. 13000290 [1]
Added to NRHPMay 22, 2013

The Capital Traction Company Car Barn (also known as the Decatur Street Car Barn and the Northern Bus Garage) is a historic streetcar car barn in northwest Washington, D.C. Built in 1906 by the Capital Traction Company, it was later turned into a bus garage [2] and is currently owned by Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

Located at 4615 14th Street NW, near the end of the 14th Street streetcar line, the two-story brick structure was designed by local architects Wood, Donn & Deming in Italian Renaissance style and built by contractors Richardson and Burgess. [2] The building originally measured 537 by 208 feet (164 m × 63 m) and included two turntables. [2]

Starting in 1926, the Washington Rapid Transit Company leased part of its space for use as a bus garage. [2] It was fully converted to a bus garage in 1959 [2] and later became WMATA’s Metrobus Northern Division garage. [3]

In 2013, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [1]

In 2019, WMATA closed the building to replace it with a new one that will include storage and maintenance for electric buses, along with up to 27,000 square feet of retail space, [4] streetscape improvements, and a community room. [5] The architects are the firms of Beyer Blinder Belle and Wendel. [4] All but the eastern (14th Street) facade of the building was demolished in 2023. Construction is slated to conclude in 2027. [5]

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References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Laura V. Trieschmann; Jennifer J. Bunting (September 2000). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Capital Traction Company Car Barn / Decatur Street Car Barn; Northern Bus Garage" (PDF). National Park Service. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 2, 2017. Retrieved August 2, 2018. With accompanying 13 photos from 2013
  3. "Then and Now: Decatur Street Car Barn". Park View, D.C. 2011-04-08. Archived from the original on 2023-09-19. Retrieved 2023-09-19.
  4. 1 2 "14th Street Car Barn Redevelopment Will Only House Electric Buses". UrbanTurf. Archived from the original on 2024-04-03. Retrieved 2024-04-03.
  5. 1 2 "History of Northern Bus Garage". WMATA. Archived from the original on 2024-04-03. Retrieved 2024-04-03.