The area north of Boundary Road was made of fields with no significant structure until the late 19th century.

[1] In 1857, the Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind (later renamed Gallaudet University) opened on the northern side of the railroad track off and Boundary Street.

[1] In 1907, after many years of negotiations between the federal government, the railway companies and local citizen's groups, Union Station opened.

[5] The following year, the Associations asked the District Commissioners to use the unexpended balances of appropriation to resurface the avenue on the same distance.

[6] The Northeast Washington Citizens' Association joined in to request that West Virginia Avenue be a thoroughfare as it would be the only one in that area.

While they agreed that piles of stones and broken down carts were unsightly they argued that this would one day be hidden with a brick wall.

[9] On February 1, 1911, Acting Attorney General William R. Harr announced that the Commissioners had no authority over the piece of land used for the yard.

The Department of Justice determined that since the strip of land was vested to the United States, the commissioners only had authority to police it.

South of Florida Avenue, the old railway roadbed had been flanked by fences on the back of the properties built on either side.

They said that extending West Virginia to I Street would have led to the removal of the yard, which would need to be relocated somewhere else in the area at an estimated cost of $50,000 with a waste of $10,000 from the improvements that have already taken place on the lot.