Georgetown and Tennallytown Railway Chartered on August 22, 1888, the G&T was the third streetcar company to incorporate in the nation's capital city. Capitalized with $200,000 in $50 shares, it actually cost $211,000 to build the line, including tracks, powerhouse, machinery, and nine cars. The G&T began operations in April 1890 on a route that ran north from
M Street NW up 32nd Street NW and then onto the Georgetown and Rockville Road (now
Wisconsin Avenue NW) through the extant village of
Tenleytown. Ultimately, it ran through the D.C. neighborhood of Friendship Heights and terminated just over the Maryland state border at Wisconsin and Willard Avenues. The second story of the wood-frame building held a
transfer table and three tracks that emerged from the north elevation of the barn. A steam power plant and water reservoir sat at the back of the lot. The power plant burned
Cumberland coal, shipped to Georgetown via the
Chesapeake & Ohio Canal.
Tennallytown and Rockville Railway Shortly before the G&T began operations in 1890, one of its officers—lawyer and real estate broker Beall—gathered three other railway incorporators and seven fellow investors in Bethesda land and incorporated the Tennallytown and Rockville Railway to continue the streetcar's northern push. Beall, who owned or co-owned some 1,000 acres of land along the future streetcar tracks, anointed himself president of the new line. He also purchased controlling interest in the Georgetown and Rockville Turnpike Company to ease the right-of-way negotiations. The line terminated at Bethesda Park, an amusement park built by the railroad on 50.25 acres on the west side of Old Georgetown Road between the modern-day streets of Cedar and Greentree Road. Opened along with the streetcar service in 1891, A new line was later built from the Circle through the town of
Somerset to the Conduit-Walhonding station, resulting in a new crossing of the T&R about a quarter-mile north of the Wisconsin-Willard terminal. In early 1893, the T&R double-tracked its line and, building on the close corporate ties with the G&T, began operating
through service between Georgetown and Bethesda Park. the
Washington and Rockville Electric Railway was incorporated to extend the line from the northern terminus of the T&R onward to
Bethesda and Rockville. By 1900, the tracks were complete from (the now-defunct) Bethesda Park to
Courthouse Square in Rockville, but officials of the town refused to let streetcars begin running until the company had fulfilled its agreement to lay tracks to the
Woodlawn Hotel, nearly a mile away in the westernmost section of town. In 1902, the mayor and town council began legal proceedings to compel the company to finish the line, which finally began serving the hotel in 1904. Some northbound trolleys ran all the way from Georgetown to Rockville; others turned around at Alta Vista. but it was part of the consolidation into the Washington Traction. In 1897, Crosby transferred all of the T&R property, except the Bethesda Park site, into his new Washington and Rockville Railway Company. But like Beall, Crosby's consortium borrowed too heavily, paid too much, and quickly fell into financial trouble. In 1902, the Washington and Great Falls Electric Railway Company changed its name to the
Washington Railway and Electric Company (WRECo) and reincorporated as a holding company. Three days later, it exchanged its stock for shares in Washington Traction, one-for-one at a discounted rate. This deal brought it controlling interest in the lines controlled by Washington Traction, including the G&T and W&R. The G&T would operate as a
subsidiary until October 31, 1926, when the WRECo purchased the remainder of the stock. For nearly a decade after the expansion, lines controlled by WRECo charged passengers a single five-cent ticket (six tickets could be had for 25 cents) to ride anywhere in its system. But in 1910, WRECo—more precisely, the G&T and W&R—began requiring an additional five-cent ticket for rides that crossed the District-Maryland boundary. Citizens of the D.C. neighborhood of Friendship Heights and the Montgomery County municipalities of
Drummond and
Somerset complained to the
Interstate Commerce Commission, arguing that the hike was unjust and unreasonable under ICC rules. WRECo responded that streetcar companies were exempt from regulations governing railroads. In 1912, the ICC rejected this argument and ordered a stop to the practice. At the time, WRECo owned all of the Washington and Rockville Company stock and about three-quarters of the Georgetown and Tenallytown Company. In 1908, a car barn was built by Samuel J. Prescott & Co. to service streetcars at 5230 Wisconsin Avenue, two blocks inside D.C. It would serve until the end of streetcar operations in 1962 and be demolished shortly thereafter. In 1929, the W&R ran 24 trips a day, from 6:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m., between Rockville and Washington. Stops included Georgetown, Tennallytown (later, Tenleytown), Somerset, Bethesda, Alta Vista, Bethesda Park, Montrose, Halpine, the Fairgrounds, Courthouse Square, and Chestnut Lodge. In 1933, the
Capital Transit Company was formed by combining Capital Traction Co., WRECo, and the Washington Rapid Transit bus company. though service from Georgetown to points further south would continue. In 1956, Congress passed a law permitting D.C. Commissioners to settle a strike by Capital Transit streetcar operators. The law revoked Capital Transit's franchise as of August 15, 1956, and required that a new operator—to be named
D.C. Transit—provide an all-bus system. == Remnants ==