About Us

About Columbia Station DC

Thank you for visiting our website and for your interest in Columbia Station DC. As you may know, Columbia Station DC no longer operates as a working train station and stop but our structure now serves as a venue for concerts, art fairs, and other events. Here at Columbia Station DC, we’re proud of our history and of our surrounding neighborhood, and how it’s grown and changed over the years. That’s one main reason we have refused to simply tear down our structure and abandon it, despite it no longer serving its original purpose!

The History of Columbia Station DC

By the mid 1800s, some 9000 miles of rail lines had been built in the United States. Early U.S. railroads copied the British mode of transportation, initially using horses to pull railcars until steam and then fossil fuel engines were built.

Early railroads included comfortable passenger cars, very different than the crowded subway and railcars you often see today! Of course, many railroads provided cross-continental transportation, as this was long before individual passenger cars became the norm. Dining cars soon became an essential part of those railcars, first serving meals picked up along the way before galleys were then constructed, allowing for onsite meal preparation.

As a part of this early American history, stops such as Columbia Station DC were soon established and grew to accommodate additional demands for quick and easy local transportation. Rail stations were especially in demand around the nation’s capital; as the country grew, so did its government! In turn, there were more and more passengers and commuters around the District of Columbia, and more demand for rail stops along the way.

Today’s Columbia Station DC

While stops like Columbia Station DC remained in demand for many decades, ownership and use of private cars and other forms of public transit soon took over the use of railcars, and stations like ours feel out of use for many commuters. While we at Columbia Station DC were happy to serve our passengers to the best of our abilities for years, we also knew that eventually we would stop functioning as a passenger station.

While our purpose changed, our dedication to the surrounding Adams Morgan neighborhood did not! We are as fiercely loyal to this area as our neighbors and knew we did not want to simply tear down our gorgeous historic structure.

Our proximity to nearby cities also made us realize that our beloved station was too precious to simply abandon. While we were closing as a rail stop, the rail lines still run nearby and provide an easy commute for visitors from a variety of areas, including the capital and big cities of Alexandria, Baltimore, and everywhere in between.

Holding events in our historic structure also gives any occasion a certain personality and style that you won’t find in drab, generic concert halls or even open-air locations. Because of that, we’re proud to remain open as a venue for special events and proud of the history we’ve kept alive here in the Adams Morgan neighborhood.