U Street station

U Street station has a single island platform with entrances at either end, leading from U Street at 10th and 13th Streets. Like nearly all non-interchange stations on the Metro, there are two tracks: trains using track E1 head to Greenbelt, while those on E2 are bound for Branch Avenue. This station was among the last to feature the 22-coffer "waffle" ceiling vault design among {{wmata|Benning Road}}, {{wmata|Capitol Heights}}, {{wmata|Federal Center}}, {{wmata|Navy Yard}}, and {{wmata|Shaw-Howard University}}.

File:U St-African-Amer Civil War Memorial-Cardozo Artwork.jpg

Plans for rapid transit prior to the creation of WMATA in February 1967 focused on the needs of commuters while neglecting some of the District's less affluent neighborhoods.{{cite book |last1=Schrag |first1=Zachary M. |title=The Great Society Subway: A History of the Washington Metro |date=2014 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore |isbn=9781421415772 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Great_Society_Subway/9fnZAwAAQBAJ |edition=Johns Hopkins Paperback}}{{rp|106}} Riots following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 destroyed much of the commercial district around 14th and U Streets and planners hoped that adding a subway stop in that area would stimulate redevelopment.{{r|Schrag|p=211-12}} The original 1969 plan called for a line under 13th Street NW with just two stations. However, in 1970, the District of Columbia Council agreed to pay an additional $3 million to add a third station and reroute the Green Line under U Street, and then 14th Street NW.{{r|Schrag|p=213}} Instead of opening in 1976, the first Green Line stations, including U Street, opened in 1991.{{r|Schrag|p=213}}

Trains originally serviced this station as Yellow Line trains until Green Line service was formally introduced later that year.[http://world.nycsubway.org/us/washdc/ world.nycsubway.org/United States/Washington, D.C] Yellow Line service resumed in late 2006 as part of what was initially an 18-month experiment to extend that line to Fort Totten station during non-rush hours and weekends.

On June 10, 2001, Metro Transit Police officer Marlon C. Morales was killed at the station while intervening in a fare dispute. A plaque exists outside the 13th Street entrance in his honor.[http://www.wmata.com/about/MET_NEWS/PressReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=523 Metro press release: Metro Transit Police to Honor Officer Marlon Morales With a Special Plaque at the U Street-African American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo Metrorail Station]

"Cardozo" was added to the name just before opening, and refers to the nearby Cardozo High School. "African-Amer Civil War Memorial" was added in 1999 when the African American Civil War Memorial was completed at U Street and Vermont Ave NW. With this designation, this station had the longest name in the Metro system at 44 characters, while the shortest station names in the system belong to {{wmata|Takoma}} and {{wmata|McLean}}. On November 3, 2011, the station was renamed to "U Street" with "African American Civil War Memorial / Cardozo" as a subtitle.{{cite press release |title=Station names updated for new map |publisher=Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority |date=November 3, 2011 |url=http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/news/PressReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=5081 |access-date=February 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111105211316/http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/news/PressReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=5081 |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 5, 2011 }}

On May 7, 2023, the northeastern terminus of the Yellow Line was truncated from {{wmata|Greenbelt}} to {{wmata|Mount Vernon Square}}, following its reopening after a nearly eight-month-long major rehabilitation project on its bridge over the Potomac River and its tunnel leading into {{wmata|L'Enfant Plaza}}. Thus, it no longer services this station.{{cite news |title=Metro's Yellow Line reopens Sunday with controversial turnback |url=https://wjla.com/news/local/dc-metro-yellow-line-reopens-sunday-schedule-times-trains-stations-change-huntington-fairfax-county-greenbelt-maryland-mount-vernon-square-washington-dc-turnback-wmata-gm-randy-clarke-riders-upset-potomac-river-lenfant-plaza |access-date=May 7, 2023 |work=WJLA-TV |publisher=Sinclair Broadcast Group |date=May 7, 2023}} Half of Yellow Line service is expected be re-extended back to Greenbelt in December 2025.{{cite press release |title=Metro Board of Directors approves $4.957 billion FY2026 budget that improves service without raising fares |url=https://www.wmata.com/about/news/Metro-Board-of-Directors-approves-FY2026-budget.cfm |publisher=Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority |date=April 10, 2025}}

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{{WMATA links}}

• The Schumin Web Transit Center: [http://transit.schuminweb.com/transit/wmata/green-line.php?station=E03 U Street Station]
• [https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=38.917007,-77.025924&spn=0.003973,0.013443&z=17&layer=c&cbll=38.917007,-77.025924&panoid=ClS9hDM9JkGiMm9OALeLjw&cbp=12,187.6,,0,3.06 10th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View]
• [https://www.google.com/maps/@38.9169936,-77.0291817,3a,75y,174.76h,86.81t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sq1b5RPEJRtJrS-XCrzKjEA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en 13th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View]

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Category:Stations on the Green Line (Washington Metro)

Category:Washington Metro stations in Washington, D.C.

Category:Railway stations in the United States opened in 1991

Category:1991 establishments in Washington, D.C.

Category:Railway stations located underground in Washington, D.C.

Category:U Street Corridor, Washington, D.C.