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About This Site

DCplates.net is intended to be a source of historical information on the subject of motor vehicle license plates issued in Washington, D.C. since registration was first required in 1903. This site is not affiliated with the D.C. Dept. of Motor Vehicles or any other government agency. Rather, it is privately supported for the benefit of license plate collectors and others with an interest in the subject matter.

This site is based upon a 2003 paper in which details of the multi-year baseplates issued since 1966 were explained. During March and April 2004, this resource was fashioned into the seven separate pages accessed through the 1966-2006 Passenger page. A few other pages were prepared in early 2004, after which the project was abandoned until being revived in late December 2005. Following several weeks of work, a period during which a few pages were added and others completed, the site was published on the Web as DCplates.com on January 16, 2006. Its name was changed to DCplates.net on January 8, 2008.

Contributing to DCplates.net

Everyone with information about and images of Washington, D.C. plates is encouraged to contact us about contributing to this site. DCplates.net accepts all relevant data and photos, including (but not limited to):

Contact Us

To contact DCplates.net via e-mail, click here. To reach us by regular mail, write: Eastern Seaboard Press, P.O. Box 2274, Providence, RI 02905.

Bibliography

DeGregorio, William A. The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents. New York: Barricade Books, Inc., 1993.

Digest of Motor Laws, 71st Edition (2005), Washington, D.C.: AAA Government Relations, 2004.

District of Columbia ALPCA Archives. Online document of the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association, 2005.

Dragon, Richard E. District of Columbia General-Issue Passenger Car License Plates Issued Since 1966, Warwick, R.I.: published privately by the author, 2003.

Frank, J. Ray; Garst, John D., Jr.; Gauthier, Charles; and Lackie, Kenneth W, "The District of Columbia, Part II: Special-Event, Vanity, Government, Non-Passenger Plates," ALPCA Newsletter 33, no.2 (1987): 35.

Gauthier, Charles, "The 1989 Presidential Inaugural Plates," ALPCA Newsletter 35, no.3 (1989): 83.

"Know Your License Letter," American Motorist (District of Columbia Edition) (Sept. 1926): 8-F. Washington, D.C.: AAA, 1926.

Raiche, Stephen P. Nine Decades of Automobile Licensing in the Nation's Capital, A Brief and Concise History, 1903-1994, Washington, D.C.: published privately by the author, 1994.

Tanner, Eric N. Notebook of Information on Passenger License Plates of the United States and Canada, Grand Rapids, Mich.: published privately by the author, 2005.


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This page last updated on June 12, 2008

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