Ott's Esso Arboretum: 1937

Dave, the term for the current-collection device that ran along the center conduit of streetcar tracks was "plow".
It's interesting that conduit tracks show up relatively often on Shorpy due to the number of photos published of Washington DC and Manhattan scenes. In fact, conduit installations were rare in the U.S. and these were the only two significant systems. There were several other large systems in Europe including London, Berlin and Paris.

The fact that there are 3 'rails' reveals that this is a cable car system of the type that still runs in San Francisco.

[Most of the system was electrically powered. Streetcars got their juice through a "foot" that ran in the center groove. - Dave]

I knew this photo looked familiar. That nifty book of vanished DC, "On This Spot," lists this station as being located at 36th and M Streets NW, over in Georgetown. (Page 194 for those of us that want to check). Given the incline of the street seen at the left side of the photo, and streetcar tracks embedded in the street in the foreground, this seems a likely location.

[There were numerous Ott Esso stations in the District. - Dave]

Based on the mountain at the back of the picture (which by the way looks strangely like the Paramount Pictures logo), I'd guess we could "roughly pinpoint" the location to exactly somewhere on Planet Earth; more or less.

Laundry out on several clothes lines drying. A couple of great looking convertibles, especially the car on the left side street. The rumble seat open on the other, and it with no windshield! The the fellow looking under the coupe on the far right. And finally the person on the 3rd floor shaking out their throw rug from the window. All at 4:45 PM on another typical summer day!

Ott's Service Station was located at 12th and H Streets N.W. but branch locations included 923 H St. N.W., 7th and Rhode Island Ave. N.W, and Sherman Ave. and Park Rd. N.W. The corner at 12th and H has been entirely rebuilt since 1937 which challenges the ability to definitively connect this photo with that location.

[As indicated by the sign on the mural, the name of the business was Ott's Service Stations, plural, with every station being a "branch." - Dave]

I am in total agreement with stevendm on the impressive craftsmanship of the paved street stonework.

Hopefully some DC historical trolley buff might be able to collaborate one of the above locations of Ott's Service Stations with the location of tracks along a route of the 1930s streetcar system.

Love the fancy brickwork in the road.

This looks like it might be on Wisconsin Avenue in Georgetown, maybe around P or Q Streets.

Can anyone roughly pinpoint the location of this gas station based on the distances to the cities on the chart?

["Roughly pinpoint" -- phrase of the day! - Dave]

Reminiscent of gas station road maps of the period, like this one that's been in our family since the year one, as my mother would say.

A classic from the days when every transit operator carried and received and processed cash. The metallic sound of it was hypnotic, more so in the hands of a skillful and experienced change-maker. I had one of my own at home and would gladly make change for anyone who asked. Still made by a company named McGill, in Illinois.

There's so much to love in this shot: the two attendants (the guy with no coin changer is probably in training) in the middle of the photo just waiting for their next customer, the (rare) convenient soda bottle machine (certainly 5 cents per 6-oz. bottle) next to the pumps, and the helpful "distance to" signs on the back wall.

And what IS that four-story building where the mural is painted? The gas station office is apparently on the right side, where all the action is.

Wonderful slice of life from an era where a fill-up probably cost 85 cents.

[The other "attendant" is wearing mechanic's coveralls. - Dave]