Union Station, Washington. D.C. Image: Library of Congress

Washington's Railways and the Rise of Union Station

February 15, 2005
On the evening of February 15, 2005, Lee H. Rogers presented a lecture on the history of Washington’s railroad service and the creation of Union Station.

Rogers noted that prior to the consolidation of railroad routes at Union Station, Washington residents had to choose from as many as eight different railway stations within the city, depending on which line they wanted to ride and where they wanted to go. Rogers showed slides of these stations and the trains they served, drawing in part on the extensive photo archive of D.C. historian Robert A. Truax.

An international transportation planner and economist, Lee H. Rogers has worked on transportation projects in fourteen countries while also pursuing a decades-long interest in the history of Washington, where he lived since 1953. He has presented lectures on Washington’s streetcars, canals, bridges and other transportation infrastructure. He is a founding member of the Washington Streetcar Museum and the Baltimore Streetcar Museum, and has researched the histories of District neighborhoods on 14th Street N.W. and H Street N.E. He is a graduate of American University and a member of the U.S.Transportation Research Board.

Past Lectures