(Updated 10/27) Did you know that a little over 90 years before the King Street trolley started ferrying visitors through Old Town, another streetcar ran from Del Ray up into D.C.?
A new Christmas ornament for sale for $25 through the Office of Historic Alexandria celebrates the city’s first streetcar — which ran for 14 years before the popularity of the car helped drive it out of businesses.
“Car 303 of the Mount Vernon Alexandria & Washington Electric Railway was one of a fleet of art deco cars purchased in 1918 for the essential trolley line that connected Del Ray commuters to DC and tourists to Mount Vernon,” the city said in the ornament description. “Car 303 ran until the railway’s closure in 1932.”
According to the Library of Virginia, the Washington, Alexandria and Mount Vernon Electric Railway was one of the first successful electric trolley lines in the country. The first was in Richmond in 1888.
“By 1896 the company had expanded their tracks and were also using tracks owned by the Belt Line Street Railway Company, which operated in Washington D.C. Soon after railways began to expand into other portions of northern Virginia, allowing for more travel,” the library said. “However, their expansion was threatened in the 1920s when patronage declined due to the availability of other options such as buses and personal automobiles, forcing many companies out of business.”
The ornament’s description said the trolley car became a diner in 1936.
“Historic Alexandria’s 2021 holiday ornament commemorates a period of the City’s growth as it began the transition from industrial manufacturer to DC suburb and history tourism destination,” the city said.
Recent Stories
Staff raises and market rate adjustments are a few of the proposed highlights after Alexandria City Public Schools got the green light last week by City Council to add $273.03…
(Updated 3:50 p.m.) The results of the Healthy Home Network survey last fall found that the biggest concern for most residents in Alexandria is pests. The survey was run by…
The final touches are being made on the expansion of Alexandria City High School’s Minnie Howard Campus. After two years of construction, a certificate of occupancy was issued for the…
Tri Pointe brings Queer Eye interior designer Bobby Berk to Alexandria’s new Eisenhower Pointe. Tri Pointe Homes, one of the nation’s most celebrated names in residential building, introduced the new…
Good news, D.C. area. You can save money on your next home cleaning with Well-Paid Maids. It’s easy!
We offer a discount when you set up recurring cleans — and the discounts just increased this week!
For weekly cleans, get $30 off each cleaning.
Potomac Harmony is Back! Following a gap year of competing, then virtual rehearsals during the pandemic, followed by the well-earned retirement of our long-term director, a year of a director search, Potomac Harmony hit the regional contest stage in Concord, North Carolina in March for the first time since 2018! It was exhilarating, reaffirming, and rewarding!
The chorus hit all of its goals, the biggest of which was to have fun and sing our best on contest stage — we did both! Because we earned a score over 400 points, our new Director, Allison Lynskey, was awarded the Novice Director award, photo above. Additionally, one of our charter members, Jackie Bottash, was nominated for and honored with the Leadership Excellence award. It was a celebratory weekend!
What’s next? So much! We now look forward to upcoming performances, growing our membership, and expanding our musical product with new arrangements and an education component each week. It’s an exciting time to be part of this ever-growing ensemble!
Alexandria NAACP, Shiloh Baptist Church, DPC to hold City Council…
The Alexandria Branch of the NAACP, Shiloh Baptist Church, and The Departmental Progressive Club to hold the City Council Candidate Forum for ALL Candidates in the City of Alexandria Virginia. The event is Free of Charge and Open to The
