DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

The city limits of Washington are the same as that of the District of Columbia, so in essence, motor vehicle registration here has always been within a local city.  Therefore, there was no city pre-state era as such before the District began registration in 1903.

The earliest mention of a proposed regulation to require automobile registration in the District is in a news article entitled "WANT AUTOMOBILES TO BE NUMBERED" in the New York Herald, believed to be from 1900.  According to the article, "The principal reason for the desire of the Commissioners to require the display of numbers is that the wide, smooth streets of Washington tempt users of automobiles to travel at very high rates of speed."  Members of the Washington Automobile Club protested vigorously, so the Commissioners appealed to the State Department to collect data regarding automobile regulations in foreign cities through its consuls.  Paris, France, was the only city which required the identification of vehicles, but even then, marks of identification were not required to be conspicuously displayed.  (There was no mention of the first American registration law in New York State, passed on April 25, 1901.)  According to a Washington Post article in 1909, the first bill to be introduced before Congress regarding automobile registration in the District was Senate Bill 6822 on January 31, 1901.  This bill was based upon the recommendations of the Superintendent of Police, Major Richard Sylvester, in a letter he wrote to the Commissioners on January 18, 1901, in which he "recommended that automobiles, locomobiles, and kindred vehicles be inscribed on the rear of such vehicles with a number so that the same might easily be read from the sidewalks or streets."  A $2 registration fee was also proposed.  The bill failed to pass.

At some point after this failed attempt and probably other contentious proposals, it was discovered that, unlike the rest of the United States, there was no necessity for passage of an automobile law in the District of Columbia since it was the legal opinion of corporation counsel that sufficient authority to regulate automobiles was already vested in the Commissioners through the police power.  A public hearing was held on April 14, 1903, to consider the adoption of police regulations which had been drafted to address motor vehicle registration.  Despite many strong objections, the regulations were subsequently published in the daily papers as required by law.  Before the effective date arrived, a court injunction was sought but dismissed.  An order was issued on May 19, 1903, that the Automobile Board be formed, members appointed, and have the authority to set meetings to review applications for operator's licenses.  The first meeting was held on May 28, 1903, to elect officials and determine categories of motor vehicles for the purposes of licensing.

Three months later, the first regulations requiring motor vehicle registration took effect on August 29, 1903.  This required owners to register with the Automobile Board and display an owner-provided rear plate with 3-inch-tall numbers, but no fee was charged.  The first registration was issued on August 11, 1903.  In his first annual report on October 11, 1904, Secretary of the Automobile Board H. M. Woodward recommended that a $1 fee be charged to be in line with other states, and he renewed this appeal in 1905 and 1906.  He also recommended that license plates be required to have the letters "DC" added vertically after the numbers.  This suggestion was quickly followed, as on October 29, 1904, the regulations were amended to require the letters "DC" on the plate in addition to the numbers, undoubtedly in response to Maryland's first registration law which began on May 28, 1904, providing for effectively identical numbers.  The "DC" amendment became effective December 4, 1904.  Interestingly, Maryland never added a commensurate requirement to add letters such as "MD", although some owners chose to do so.

Although motorcycles were definitely included under the motor vehicle registration regulations starting on August 29, 1903, the first specific mention of them is not until the Automobile Board's fiscal year 1905/06 report.  Vehicle listings were categorized by type starting in July 1905, with 4 motorcycles registered that month.  Non-residents staying 60 days or less could register their vehicle's existing number with the Automobile Board, providing it was duly registered in their home state.  Non-resident registrations were kept track of separately in the annual reports since they were not issued identification numbers or plates until 1913.

In the second annual report dated October 11, 1905, Mr. Woodward made the recommendation that an aluminum seal be issued when a number is assigned, to be displayed on the vehicle, to prevent confusion resulting from transfers of ownership.  This suggestion also appeared in the October 10, 1906, report, but does not appear to have ever been placed into effect.  By the time the 1907 report was written, district-issued plates were in use, making the dashboard disc recommendation obsolete.

From annual fiscal-year reports of the Automobile Board, we have registration totals by month from July 1904 to September 1907.  #1000 was reached in February 1905.  The October 10, 1906, report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1906, further states that 1,757 motor vehicles had been registered since inception.  From this, we can determine accurate number ranges by year, with only 1903 being a mere estimate.  Numbers estimated to have been issued by calendar year are as follows:

      1903      1 -  493   (493)

      1904    494 -  962   (469)

      1905    963 - 1477   (515)

      1906   1478 - 2019   (542)

      1907   2020 - 2463   (444)   (As of September 30, 1907)

The highest known pre-state plate is #2272.  A listing of the owners of all numbers appears in the Washington Herald; #1 - 1103 on May 26, 1907, #1104 - 1746 on June 2, 1907, and #1747 - 2226 (as of May 24, 1907) on June 9, 1907.  Interestingly, #1 is listed as being issued to "2 machines" of the same owner.

1907-17 FIRST-ISSUE PORCELAIN PLATES

A new regulation providing for a district-issued rear plate ("enamel metal identification number tag") was ordered on March 2, 1907, and issuance of undated porcelain plates began on October 8, 1907.  A $1 one-time fee was charged for the plate, but this was found to be insufficient to cover the cost of production, so the fee was increased to $2 starting in April 1908, by Act of Congress approved on February 15, 1908.  According to the annual report of December 16, 1909, the plate regulations required that the words "District of Columbia" be in 1-inch-tall letters;  however, this was not followed until about January 1914 when the large-legend variety appeared, over four years later!

The numbering of 1907-17 porcelain plates is far more complex than it seems at first glance.  The Automobile Board report for fiscal year 1916 states that "At the present time, they are numbered serially, starting with No. 1, issued on October 8, 1907."  The first order of plates was for numbers 1 to 2500.  According to a May 10, 1908, listing in the Washington Post, numbers 1 to 100 were reserved for dealers, while private owners were assigned numbers 101 and higher, and at this point, dealer numbers were up to #87 while passenger plates were up to #1770.  Owners did not receive the same numbers as on their pre-state plates.  The (Washington) Evening Star of September 22, 1907, reported that "It was at first generally supposed that the permit clerk would endeavor, in giving out the new numeral plates, to give the applicants the plates bearing the numbers originally assigned to their automobiles, but this will not be the case.  It was decided that it would require too much work and time to see that every one got his old number."

Our only other early source for numbering system information is a 1912 automobile directory (4th edition) which lists numbers from #1 to #11060.  #1 - 99 are again described as being for "Demonstrating Cars".  In the December 16, 1909, annual report, Secretary Woodward recommended that dealers be registered as a separate class and be allowed to purchase duplicate plates which could be transferred to the different vehicles being demonstrated.  Dealer plates were not issued until 1919, when D-prefix plates began.

There was a delay in the delivery of a new order of plates in 1916.  An order of 5,000 plates was supposed to be delivered by July 17, 1916, but only 500 arrived.  The last one of these was issued August 10, 1916, after which pasteboard temporary tags had to be issued for about two weeks.  This also caused numbers to be issued out of sequence.

The 1912 directory skips numbers 2501 to 3100 and 5000 to 5999, our first clue that the District had a practice of reserving certain groups of numbers for motorcycles rather than duplicating numbers already being used on passenger plates.  The lowest number known on an undated motorcycle plate is #5627, which fits into the second missing group.  From later registration listings found in the Washington Herald, Post and Times, it appears that a third motorcycle number block was reserved from 11400 - 12999, after which they seem to have given up on the idea of avoiding overlaps with full-size plates, and merely continued numbering sequentially from #13000 to over 17000.

For estimated number ranges for full-size and motorcycle plates by year and by month, please see the Misc. 1 page.  #10000 was reached most likely during October 1911.  It is estimated that 59,563 passenger (full-size) plates were issued altogether.  The highest known 1907-17 plates are as follows:

       Passenger (White on Black) #62380, 64180

       Motorcycle (White on Red)  #16657

MOTORCYCLE PLATES

We know that motorcycles were included under the definition of motor vehicles, all of which were required to be registered since 1903.  We have confirmed registrations as early as July 1905, with 4 issued that month.  And, we have monthly totals for most years from mid-1905 to 1917 which include motorcycles listed in a separate category in the annual reports.  We also know that new special smaller motorcycle plates had been ordered as of October 23, 1907, and had begun issue by April 29, 1908.

We have no proof of what motorcycle plates looked like in the District in 1907-17, nor what numbers they were issued, but we have solid circumstantial evidence from various sources that supports the theory that the 5 known vertical, fender-shaped white-on-red porcelain plates with numbers from missing passenger blocks are in fact motorcycle plates.

For the 996 registrations issued in October 1907, only $986 in fees was collected, leaving 10 registrations for which only numbers, but no plates, were issued.  Originally, it had been intended that motorcycles display the same type of plate as all other vehicles.  But just two weeks later, a news article in the Washington Post on October 23, 1907, states that "Complaint having been made that the motor cycle tags were too large, tags about half the size of those in use at present are being made."  It is clear that issuance of plates to motorcycles was stopped, and only numbers issued, because we know of motorcycle registrations in November 1907 through February 1908 being treated this way.  What isn't certain is when during the month of October 1907 this practice was started.  While it is likely that some or all of these 10 plate-less registrations in October were for motorcycles, for which it had been determined before the end of the month that large plates were unsatisfactory, it is also possible that some or all of the 10 represent pre-state registrations issued to any type of vehicle from October 1 to October 7, 1907.

When motorcycle plates finally became available in late April of 1908, they were also issued to those registrants who had been assigned numbers since October 1907, resulting in 49 "catch-up" plates during the spring of 1908.  In an April 29, 1908, article in the Washington Post, it is announced that "Permit Clerk Woodward is distributing the new tags for motorcycles.  They are much smaller than those for automobiles."

Let's start with known plates.  All are white on red, vertically oriented, and curved to fit the fender of a motorcycle.  #5627 is 3" x 8" and vertically curved from top to bottom, while the other 4 plates, #12612, 12725, 13609 and 16657, are 3" x 10" and curved in all 4 directions to more fully fit the form of the fender.  There are no examples known of the first block of plates, #2501 - 3100, so we don't know if they are horizontal or vertical, or straight or curved.  But according to the Washington, D.C., Evening Star of October 22, 1907, "The new tags being made for the motor-cycle will be about half the size of the ordinary tag and will be red in color."

Regarding sizes, we have a reference in the December 16, 1909, annual report to "tags 4 by 7 inches for motorcycles" being purchased in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1909, but this size matches none of the known plates.  Since the #5000 block would not have started issue until September 1909, the above size probably refers to the original block (#2501 - 3100).  The choice of red is unusual but may have been selected for greater visibility since the plates were so small.  We have found no references to the unusual color, but the vertical alignment of numbers is mentioned:  In the fiscal year 1916 annual report, "it is also recommended that...motorcycle numbers should be arranged horizontally instead of vertically, as is at present the plan."  1918 motorcycle plates indeed switched to a horizontal format.

NON-RESIDENTS

Until 1913, non-residents were allowed to drive in the District for up to 60 days without having to purchase D.C. plates.  However, they were required to register their home plate number with the Automobile Board at no charge.  Up to three plates could be displayed on the rear of a vehicle, which most often included D.C., Maryland and Virginia.  The police regulations were amended on January 16, 1913, effective February 16, 1913, requiring non-residents to register in the District upon entry if their home state did not honor D.C. plates.  The fee paid was to be the same as that charged by their home state (which in most cases was significantly higher than the D.C. fee) but prorated for the remaining months of the calendar year.  This was targeted mainly at Maryland, which refused to establish reciprocity with D.C.  It affected only new registrations until January 1, 1914, when all non-residents would be required to renew at the new rates.

Originally, it was proposed that non-resident plates be white on red, and have either the legend "NON-RESIDENT" or the date "1913".  Luckily, this idea was dropped and plates actually issued were the same as resident plates, only in a dedicated number series.  The Washington, D.C., Evening Star reported on April 6, 1913, that "Automobile licenses were issued last week for the first time to out-of-town motorists under the new order of the District Commissioner...The out-of-town series commences with 19000, the tag having a black background with the numbers in white, being exact duplicates of the local identification tags, except for the serial number."  The following number blocks, representing 12,000 plates, were reserved for out-of-town registrations:

   19000 - 19999, 21000 - 21999, 25000 - 25999, 27000 - 27000,

   30000 - 30999, 35000 - 38999, 43000 - 44999, 49000 - 49999.

The January 16, 1913, regulation was rescinded on July 15, 1913, reverting fees to what they were before that.  A new order was issued on July 21, 1913, effective immediately.  Now, all non-residents (other than tourists) were required to register in D.C., regardless of their home state's reciprocity status, and pay the same $2 fee as residents.  This appears to have been the system used from July 22, 1913, through the end of 1917.  Reciprocity between Maryland and D.C. was not achieved until 1924, the last such agreement in the U.S. regarding private passenger vehicles.

When #49999 was reached on March 12, 1917, it was decided to discontinue the separate number blocks for non-resident owners.  The new law passed nine days earlier would render all old plates invalid after December 31, 1917, so they didn't want to have plates left over in two series.

BLACK MARKET FOR BLACK PLATES

The only problem with this system was that the issuance of more D.C. plates for short-term use resulted in many more obsolete plates floating around.  Since plates were undated and didn't expire, there was no way to tell valid tags from invalid ones.  The fiscal year 1916 annual report of the Automobile Board describes the black market for Sunday drivers coming into the District as follows:

   "Many of the cars for which licenses were given 3 to 10 years ago are now out of commission and the number tags of them are sometimes used illegally.  These so-called 'dead numbers' cause endless amount of confusion to the police in tracing lost and stolen cars, and also are an incentive to some persons to indulge in certain dishonest practices, such as selling Maryland tourists coming into Washington on Sundays license tags which will carry them through the day...Touring parties coming from Baltimore and other Maryland cities have been "held up" a number of times by persons on the outskirts of the city who have convinced drivers that the old tags could be used legally and have sold worthless dead numbers to car owners..."

ANNUAL PLATES FOR 1918

Secretary Woodward continued to make various proposals in his annual reports throughout the first-issue era.  On December 16, 1909, he recommended that annual plates in different colors be issued.  This appeal was renewed periodically but annual plates did not become a reality until eight years later in 1918.

The permanent porcelain plate era ended on December 31, 1917.  An Act of Congress passed on March 3, 1917, and effective January 1, 1918, required annual district-issued rear plates.  Annual fees were now $3, $5 or $10 depending upon horsepower, motorcycles $2, and dealers $6.  Fees were not prorated for those owners registering later on during the year, resulting in complaints to the license bureau.  Issuance began on January 2, 1918.  The 1918 plates were issued singly, but pairs began in 1919.  The lowest and highest known 1918 plates are as follows:  Passenger #1-887 to #38-079, Motorcycle #1-327.