Rhode Island Avenue station (also known as Rhode Island Avenue–Brentwood) is a

Washington Metro The Washington Metro, often abbreviated as the Metro and formally the Metrorail, is a rapid transit system serving the Washington metropolitan area of the United States. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ...

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, on the Red Line. The station is located in the Brentwood neighborhood of

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—eac ...

, on an elevated platform crossing

Rhode Island Avenue Rhode Island Avenue is a diagonal avenue in the Northwest and Northeast quadrants of Washington, D.C., and the capital's inner suburbs in Prince George's County, Maryland. Paralleling New York Avenue, Rhode Island Avenue was one of the origina ...

NE (

U.S. Route 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, ...

)

History

Rhode Island Avenue station 1976 postcard

The station was built on land formerly part of the African-American

Columbian Harmony Cemetery Columbian Harmony Cemetery was an African-American cemetery that formerly existed at 9th Street NE and Rhode Island Avenue NE in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Constructed in 1859, it was the successor to the smaller Harmoneon Cemetery ...

. When the station was constructed in 1976, workers discovered that not all the bodies had been moved. At least five coffins were unearthed, and numerous bones. A plaque was affixed to a column near one of the station's entrances to commemorate the former cemetery. When a parking lot at the site was renovated in 1979, more bones and bits of cloth and coffins were unearthed. Service began on March 27, 1976, as one of the first stations in the system, opening as the eastern terminus of the Red Line. It was replaced as the eastern terminus by Silver Spring on February 6, 1978. From the time the station opened on March 27, 1976, all the way up until November 20, 2004, the station was originally just named, "Rhode Island Avenue". However; on November 20, 2004, during exactly the same time WMATA opened its brand new "New York Avenue - Florida Avenue - Galludet University" Metrorail Station in between the Rhode Island Avenue Metro Station & Union Station, the "Rhode Island Avenue" Metro Station, was officially renamed, "Rhode Island Avenue - Brentwood" in recognition of the Brentwood neighborhood in Northeast Washington, D.C., which the station is located in. However; this particular name change of the Rhode Island Avenue Metro Station, was only initially reflected on WMATA's Metrorail Rider Guides, System Maps, and on most of WMATA's newer/updated Metrobus Schedules for each of the Metrobus Routes that served the Rhode Island Avenue Metro Station. The pylons and station signage, on the other hand, did not officially reflect the new name change of the station, until they were eventually replaced with brand new pylons and station signage during July/August, 2005. In the summer of 2018 from July 21 to September 3, the station was shut down for platform repairs due to settling of the platform and decaying concrete caused by salty de-icer used in the winter.

Future improvements

In May 2018, Metro announced an extensive renovation of platforms at twenty stations across the system. The platforms at the Rhode Island Avenue–Brentwood station would be rebuilt starting in September 2020.

Station layout

The station's main entrance is located just south of Rhode Island Avenue on Washington Street N.E. The station's

island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...

is stated to have the highest elevation of any Metro station in the system.

Notable places nearby

* WMATA's Brentwood Rail Yard *

USPS The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal serv ...

Washington Main Office * Edgewood Terrace Apartment Complex *

Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is a Catholic minor basilica and national shrine in Washington D.C. It is the largest Catholic church building in North America and is also the tallest habitable building in Wa ...

Building

References

External links

* * The Schumin Web Transit Center
Rhode Island Ave-Brentwood Station

Rhode Island Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhode Island Avenue - Brentwood (WMATA station) Stations on the Red Line (Washington Metro) Washington Metro stations in Washington, D.C. Railway stations in the United States opened in 1976 1976 establishments in Washington, D.C. African-American history of Washington, D.C.