Jamaicaway

Jamaicaway
	The Jamaicaway in 2011
Maintained by	Department of Conservation and Recreation
Length	1.5 mi (2.4 km)
Location	Emerald Necklace, Boston, Massachusetts
South end	Arborway in Jamaica Plain
North end	Route 9 / Riverway in Mission Hill
Other
Designer	Frederick Law Olmsted

Last updated May 19, 2025

Template:Attached KML/Jamaicaway

KML is from Wikidata

The Jamaicaway (sometimes colloquially referred to as the "J'way") is a four-lane, undivided parkway in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, adjacent to the nearby neighborhood of Brookline.

History

The Jamaicaway was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted as part of Emerald Necklace of green spaces extending from Boston Common on Beacon Hill to Franklin Park in Roxbury. It connects Riverway in the north with Arborway in the south.

Designed with carriages in mind during an era when Jamaica Plain was a sparsely inhabited streetcar suburb, the Jamaicaway is now a heavily-traveled route for motor vehicles connecting central areas of Boston (especially the Longwood Medical and Academic Area) with areas to the southwest, including Forest Hills, West Roxbury and the densely populated suburbs of Norfolk County. The winding nature and narrow lanes of the road, and its heavy use by commuters leads to many vehicle collisions.

Many of the houses which line the Jamaicaway are large and of architectural interest. The oldest houses were created by elite Bostonians for year-round or seasonal use. The person most mentioned in association with the Jamaicaway today is probably James Michael Curley, the Irish American Mayor of Boston whose former house was long easy to spot, even after Curley's death, by the shamrock design incised in its shutters.^[2]

Major intersections

The entire route is in Boston, Suffolk County.

Location	mi^[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Jamaica Plain	0.0	0.0	Pond Street / Francis Parkman Drive / Arborway south – Dedham, Providence	Traffic circle; northern terminus of Arborway
Mission Hill	1.5	2.4	Route 9 / Riverway north – Copley Square, Brookline	Interchange; southern terminus of Riverway
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

1 2 "Jamaicaway" (Map). Google Maps . Retrieved May 25, 2019.
↑ O'Connor, Thomas H. Bibles, Brahmins, and Bosses: A Short History of Boston. Trustees of the Public Library of the City of Boston, 1984.

External links

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[googlemaps-1] 1 2 "Jamaicaway" (Map). Google Maps . Retrieved May 25, 2019.

[2] O'Connor, Thomas H. Bibles, Brahmins, and Bosses: A Short History of Boston. Trustees of the Public Library of the City of Boston, 1984.

[1]

[2]

v t e Streets and squares in Boston
East–west streets	Beacon Street Boylston Street Commonwealth Avenue Congress Street Court Street Day Boulevard Dedham Parkway Fenway Gallivan Boulevard Huntington Avenue Melnea Cass Boulevard Milk Street Neptune Road New Chardon Street Newbury Street Park Street Soldiers Field Road State Street Storrow Drive Summer Street Tremont Street Winter Street
North–south streets	Arborway Atlantic Avenue Blue Hills Parkway Bowdoin Street Brattle Street Brookline Avenue Charles Street Columbus Avenue Dorchester Avenue Enneking Parkway Federal Street Franklin Street Hanover Street Jamaicaway Jersey Street (Yawkey Way) Massachusetts Avenue Morrissey Boulevard Morton Street North Street Park Drive Riverway School Street Truman Parkway Turtle Pond Parkway Union Street Veterans of Foreign Wars Parkway Washington Street West Boundary Road West Roxbury Parkway
Intersections	Adams Square Andrew Square Blackstone Square Brigham Circle Central Square Chester Square City Square Cleveland Circle Codman Square Copley Square Day Square Dewey Square Dock Square Downtown Crossing Egleston Square Fields Corner Franklin Square Haymarket Square Hyde Square Jackson Square Kenmore Square Louisburg Square Mass and Cass Maverick Square North Square Nubian Square (Dudley Square) Packard's Corner Park Square Peabody Square Post Office Square Roxbury Crossing Scollay Square Sullivan Square Thompson Square Union Square Uphams Corner Winthrop Square
Italics denote streets and squares that no longer exist. See also Neighborhoods in Boston Transportation in Boston

v t e Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston
Coastal reservations	Belle Isle Marsh Boston Harbor Islands Castle Island Dorchester Shores Fort Revere Lynn Shore Nahant Beach Nantasket Beach Quincy Shore Revere Beach Rumney Marsh Webb Memorial Weymouth Back River
River reservations	Alewife Brook Charles River Chestnut Hill Cutler Elm Bank Hemlock Gorge Mystic River Neponset River Pope John Paul II Squantum Point Park Upper Charles River
Woodland reservations	Beaver Brook Blue Hills Breakheart Hammond Pond Middlesex Fells Quincy Quarries Southwest Corridor Stony Brook Wilson Mountain
Heritage state parks	Lynn Roxbury
Parkways and roads	Alewife Brook Arborway Blue Hills Blue Hills Reservation Charles River Reservation Day Boulevard Fellsway Fellsway East Fellsway West Fenway Fresh Pond Furnace Brook Hamond Pond Hull Shore Drive Jamaicaway Lynn Fells Lynnway Memorial Drive Morrissey Boulevard Mystic Valley Nahant Beach Boulevard Nantasket Avenue Park Drive Quincy Shore Drive Revere Beach Riverway Soldiers Field Road Stony Brook Storrow Drive Truman VFW West Roxbury Winthrop Winthrop Shore Drive
Department of Conservation and Recreation Greater Boston List of Massachusetts State Parks

v t e Emerald Necklace
Arborway Arnold Arboretum The Fens Boston Common Boston Public Garden Commonwealth Avenue Dorchesterway Fenway Forsyth Park Franklin Park Jamaica Pond Jamaicaway Olmsted Park Park Drive Riverway
Frederick Law Olmsted Boston, Massachusetts Jamaica Plain Roxbury Brookline Dorchester

Jamaicaway

Contents

History

Major intersections

References

External links