Railroad Avenue: 1925

I lived in Congress Heights also. Graduate of Anacostia in 1957. Lived on Brandywine Street down near Atlantic and later on Oakwood. Worked at the Congress Theatre while in school. Small world.

Either way I remember them from the late 1950s. I lived up the hill in Congress Heights and once a month we would stop by and get the big box (I remember it as being 500 cookies but not sure if that is accurate or a little kid's wishful thinking) of their cookies. Have never run across any cookies that were so heavenly since then, sort of a "tea cookie" I believe.

[The name was Stephenson Pie Bakery. - Dave]

I am not old enough to remember this gas station, but years later directly across Pennsylvania Avenue was Stevenson's Pies. They came in a black and white checkerboard box, best pies in D.C. Saturdays there was always a traffic jam trying to get into the parking lot to stock up on pies for Sunday. Wish they had a picture of that.

Washington Post, June 28, 1925

New Filling Station Added

Store Number 8 of Minute Service Stations Opens Today

The Minute Service Stations operating a chain of filling stations and accessories stores throughout Washington, announce the opening of their newest plant, at the intersection of Pennsylvania avenue and Railroad avenue, southeast, at the south end of the Pennsylvania avenue bridge.

The opening of this station marks the advent of the Minute Service stations into Southeast Washington. The new station will be known as No. 8.

The station is exceptionally well planned with very wide driveways, numerous visible pumps, air towers, drainage pits and other modern equipment.

The intersection of Railroad and Pennsylvania avenues was in the neighborhood of Twining just across the Sousa Bridge over the Anacostia River in the 1907-ish map below. It seems Railroad is about where Fairlawn Ave SE is today (all the other streets in the old map line up pretty well to today's view) with several gas stations still on the corners.

[Oh thank you. I knew "Turnning" couldn't be right. - Dave]

In sorry shape, yes, and unless I'm mistaken about that pile in the middle, apparently still used by the occasional horse despite the convenient availability of gasoline.

Selling multiple brands of gasoline was much more common in the early days. Other countries still use the "gas bar" concept. The streets were in sorry shape in 1920's Washington.

Looks like at least four of the autos here are Model T Fords, which would be as expected given their prominence on the road in the mid-'20's. While it's easy to love the architecture seen here, with those great old Victorian survivors, the street was a mess, and the mass of phone poles unaesthetic as well. Note the broken light pole globe, I wonder if that was the work of vandals?

[It's not really broken. It's just missing. - Dave]