WMATA’s Metro Forward Facebook page has a fun set of Metrorail construction pictures, dating from the mid-1970s. They’re a fascinating look back at a wholly different Washington.

Archives in 1975. Photo from WMATA.

The most interesting may be a 1974 picture of Gallery Place under construction. What’s now the Verizon Center is a dirt patch and a collection of holes.

But my favorite is probably the one of Archives station in June, 1975, pictured above. In the picture, workers have yet to add the tracks, platforms, or mezzanines, so the vaulted ceiling runs uninterrupted for the entire length of the station. It looks so much more voluminous!

Cross-posted at BeyondDC.

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Tagged: construction, development, history, metro, transit, wmata

Dan Malouff is a transportation planner for Arlington and an adjunct professor at George Washington University. He has a degree in urban planning from the University of Colorado and lives in Trinidad, DC. He runs BeyondDC and contributes to the Washington Post. Dan blogs to express personal views, and does not take part in GGWash's political endorsement decisions.