Getting around the city today by public transportation is, for the most part, easily done. It was not always so. Up until the Civil War, there was no public transportation, and afterwards, it was all horse-drawn carriages being pulled through muddy city streets. One of the first attempts to make this better came in 1879, when the Herdic Phaeton company built tracks through the city, from the Navy Yard to Georgetown. While still horse-drawn, the carriages were a big success, leading to an expansion in 1883. This line went down East Capitol Street, from their stables at 11th and C SE.
The Herdic Phaetons were themselves supplanted by cable and electric trolleys, and the stables were town down around 1900, to be replaced by the block of houses – seen below – in 1923.
The entrance to the stables was an alley from C Street that was paved with river rocks, and that alley is now named River Rock Court.