Private company

Herdic Phaeton Company

The Herdic Phaeton Company was a late nineteenth-century mass transit company that was located in Washington, D.C. The company derived part of its name from Peter Herdic, the designer of the horse-drawn carriage known as the Herdic.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

Herdic Cab with driver, Washington, D.C., c. 1899
Photo: 47thPennVols, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons3

The Herdic Phaeton Company was a late nineteenth-century mass transit company that was located in Washington, D.C. The company derived part of its name from Peter Herdic, the designer of the horse-drawn carriage known as the Herdic. Expanding on the success of Herdic's invention, which had increased in popularity since its launch three years earlier in Williamsport, Pennsylvania and had been used to create systems of inexpensive mass transportation in multiple major metropolitan across the United States, Herdic Phaeton started operations in December 1879, and quickly became known for running p2

Sources

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