Posts by Elliot Carter — Contributor
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More than a half a century before Metro, the Washington Post proposed building a downtown subway
Talk of a subway in DC first appeared in the Washington Post way back in 1909. At the time, the idea was just to run a small loop between the Capitol building and the White House. Keep reading…
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There’s a pedestrian tunnel system under Capitol Hill. Do you know why it was built?
A sprawling pedestrian tunnel system under Capitol Hill allows staffers and members of congress to move underground between the office buildings, Library of Congress, and Capitol building. Today they are an integral part of security on the Hill, but when they were first built it was for a far less important reason. Keep reading…
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After years of controversy, DC’s McMillan development is moving forward (UPDATE: No it’s not)
On Wednesday, DC mayor Muriel Bowser broke ground at the McMillan Sand Filtration Site, home to one of DC’s most well-known development battles. The project will transform the neighborhood east of Howard University, adding 655 new housing units, a park, commercial space, and expanded offices for the nearby Children’s Hospital. Keep reading…
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Picture this: You’re nibbling breakfast at Union Station when a train plows through the building
At 8:38 am on January 15th, 1953, a man ran onto the Union Station concourse screaming “run for your lives!” 20 seconds later the building shook as a runaway 1,100 ton passenger train smashed through the north wall and collapsed the through the floor into the basement. Dozens of passengers were injured but, amazingly, there were no fatalities on the train or in the station. >… Keep reading…
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There are tunnels under Capitol Hill. Here’s how they got there.
A sprawling pedestrian tunnel system under Capitol Hill allows staffers and members of congress to move underground between the office buildings, Library of Congress, and Capitol building. Today they are an integral part of security on the Hill, but when they were first built it was for a far less important reason. Keep reading…
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Part of the US Capitol building is in Rock Creek Park
There are heaps of sandstone in the heart of Rock Creek Park that used to be a part of the Capitol Building. They were taken down in 1958 when part of the iconic building was expanded and rebuilt in marble. Now, they’ve kind of been forgotten. Keep reading…
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These Metro stations’ names might have been very different
Metro’s Medical Center station was almost called “Pooks Hill,” and Navy Yard could have been “Weapons Plant.” This 1967 map shows some of the amusing names that WMATA considered for a number of Metro stations. Keep reading…
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Half a century before Metro, the Washington Post proposed building a downtown subway
Talk of a subway in DC first appeared in the Washington Post way back in 1909. At the time, the idea was just to run a small loop between the Capitol building and the White House. Keep reading…