The Baltimore and Potomac Railway Station was built in 1873, over the old Tiber Creek and Washington City Canal waterway on the present-day site of the National Gallery of Art. Building contractors sank 35-foot piles to secure the foundation of the building on the waterlogged ground. Made of red brick pressed with black mortar, the building's three towers, elaborate roofs, ornamental iron, and red, blue, and green slates exemplified Victorian Gothic architecture. President James A. Garfield was assassinated at the station on July 2, 1881. The station was demolished in 1907 after nearby Union Station was built and the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad consolidated with other railroad companies.
National Gallery of Art. View original.