DC Metro Station 1978 — Not yet open for business !
Originally uploaded by eljoh1

I was randomly clicking through photos of metro stations when I spotted this odd one which lacked rails or people. Then I looked at the “taken on” date: September, 1978.

This is L’Enfant Plaza Station, back when only the lower Blue/Orange Line level was in operation. The upper Green/Yellow Line platform and rails would not open until April, 1983. Doesn’t that look awesomely surreal?

Many thanks to Flickr user eljoh1 for the DC 1978 photoset where I found this.

Paulo Ordoveza

Roving Asian mendicant, can occasionally be seen wandering the streets of downtown Washington, muttering unintelligible gibberish to passers-by while pushing a “bag lady” shopping cart full of old blankets, American flags, soda cans, and healthy secondhand snacks from organic food shop dumpsters. Used to live in a cardboard box at 16th and K but the rent was too expensive.