The Hub MARYLAND AVENUE AND 15 TH STREET NE
The star burs t inters ectio n of five major roads marks this spot as a transportation hub for the neighborhood and the region. Shortly after Congress arrived in Washington in 1800, city leaders turned an old farm road into a private turnpike to Bladensburg and points northeast. Its toll booth once sat at this crossroads. During the War of 1812, British forces used the turnpike to reach the new capital city, where they burned the Capitol, White House, and other key buildings. In 1871 the turnpike became a city street. A horse-drawn streetcar line opened, linking this spot to downtown via H Stre et. en the streetcar line pushed farther east along Benning Road, spurring real estate development. A new rail line took commuters from here to Baltimore or Annapolis. With so much tra c, t his starburst hub soon anchored a busy commercial area. In the early 1900s, developers invited traveling circuses to use their vacant parcels so that audiences would see the area and consider buying here. A tradition was born: crowds of all ages lined H Street to watch thrilling circus parades with camels and clowns and elephants lumbering by. Circuses later set up near Union Terminal Market, in Uline Arena, and along Benning Road. In 1930 Sidney Hechinger opened a salvage and hardware store on Benning Road. Hechinger’s soon became a Washington institution. A er the 1968 riots many businesses abandoned the area. But in 1981 Sidney’s son, John W., Sr., showed his commitment to the city by building Hechinger Mall on Benning Road, anchored by his modern hardware store.
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