Magoun Square is a neighborhood centered on the intersection of Broadway and Medford Streets on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States. It is located between the neighborhoods of Ball Square and Winter Hill. It is a mixed-use urban business district, with commercial sites in the square and residential areas surrounding it. Trum Field, a park featuring baseball diamonds and basketball courts, is near Magoun Square, as is the headquarters of the Somerville Department of Public Works. Notable residents include playwright John Shea. [1]
Magoun Square was named after the family of John Calvin Magoun (1797–1882). Magoun was an assessor for the town of Somerville, served on the school committee as an overseer of the poor, and was a captain in the militia. His family owned a farm between Broadway and Vernon Streets and lived in the Adams-Magoun House, built circa 1783. [2] [3]
Magoun Square is located at the intersection of Broadway and Medford Streets, two major thoroughfares. The square is a six-way intersection, with signals for Dexter Street and a municipal parking lot as well as the two major through streets. Lowell Street meets Medford Street just south of the square at a separate light. In 2009, the city requested and received $3 million in stimulus funding to improve the safety and accessibility of the crash-prone intersection. [4] The project, which totaled $3.1 million in work, included new traffic signals, raised pedestrian islands and accessible curb cuts, bicycle racks, improved sidewalks, and street furniture. [5] The project was initially completed in 2011, though some work had to be redone in 2012. [6] [7]
Magoun Square station on the MBTA Green Line is located on Lowell Street 0.3 miles (0.48 km) south of the actual square, while Ball Square station is located in Ball Square 0.4 miles (0.64 km) west of Magoun Square. MBTA bus routes 80 and 89 run through the square, while route 101 follows Main Street 400 feet (120 m) to the northeast.
Somerville is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81,045 people. With an area of 4.12 square miles (10.7 km2), the city has a density of 19,671/sq mi (7,595/km2), making it the most densely populated municipality in New England and the 19th most densely populated incorporated municipality in the country. Somerville was established as a town in 1842, when it was separated from Charlestown. In 2006, the city was named the best-run city in Massachusetts by The Boston Globe. In 1972, 2009, and 2015, the city received the All-America City Award. It is home to Tufts University, which has its campus along the Somerville and Medford border.
The Green Line is a semi-metro system run by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) in the Boston, Massachusetts, metropolitan area. It is the oldest MBTA subway line, and with tunnel sections dating from 1897, the oldest subway in North America. It runs underground through downtown Boston, and on the surface into inner suburbs via six branches on radial boulevards and grade-separated alignments. With an average daily weekday ridership of 137,700 in 2019, it is the third-most heavily used light rail system in the country. The line was assigned the green color in 1967 during a systemwide rebranding because several branches pass through sections of the Emerald Necklace of Boston.
Davis Square is a major intersection in the northwestern section of Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, where several streets meet: Holland Street, Dover Street, Day Street, Elm Street, Highland Avenue, and College Avenue. The name is often used to refer to the West Somerville neighborhood surrounding the square as well.
Davis station is an underground Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Red Line rapid transit station located at Davis Square in Somerville, Massachusetts. The accessible station has a single island platform for the Red Line, as well as a dedicated busway on the surface. It opened in 1984 as part of the Red Line Northwest Extension project.
Ball Square is a neighborhood primarily in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, but also extending into Medford, at the intersection of Boston Avenue and Broadway, located between Powder House Square and Magoun Square. It is primarily a residential area with a handful of shops and restaurants along Broadway. Located on the edge of the neighborhood surrounding Tufts University, Ball Square contains a mix of businesses serving the student and academic populations as well as those reflecting the more blue-collar neighborhoods to the east.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) operates 152 bus routes in the Greater Boston area. The MBTA has a policy objective to provide transit service within walking distance for all residents living in areas with population densities greater than 5,000 inhabitants per square mile (1,900/km2) within the MBTA's service district. Much of this service is provided by bus. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 91,459,700, or about 310,700 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2024.
Teele Square is at the intersection of Broadway, Holland Street, and Curtis Street in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, a half-mile from Davis Square and the Davis Square stop on the MBTA Red Line, as well as a half-mile from Alewife Brook Parkway and Powder House Square. The square sits on Clarendon Hill, one of the seven hills in Somerville. The square is named after Jonathan W. Teele, who resided in an early portion of Charlestown that eventually became Somerville in 1842.
Lechmere station is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line light rail station in Lechmere Square in East Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is located on the east side of Monsignor O'Brien Highway near First Street, adjacent to the NorthPoint development. The accessible elevated station has a single island platform, with headhouses at both ends. It opened on March 21, 2022, as part of the Green Line Extension (GLX). Lechmere station is served by Green Line D branch and E branch service.
Winter Hill is a neighborhood in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States. It takes its name from the 120-foot hill that occupies its landscape, the name of which dates back to the 18th century. Winter Hill is located roughly north of Medford Street, west of McGrath Highway, and east of Magoun Square.
West Medford station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Medford, Massachusetts. It serves the Lowell Line, and is located at West Medford Square.
Powder House Square is a neighborhood and landmark rotary in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States. It is also known locally as Powder House Circle. It is the six-way intersection of College Avenue, Broadway, Warner Street, and Powder House Boulevard. Powder House Square stands at the southern tip of Tufts University's main Somerville/Medford campus, and borders the northern edge of Nathan Tufts Park. The square takes its name from the 18th century Powder House, which overlooks the rotary from Nathan Tufts Park.
The Inner Belt District is a 126-acre (0.51 km2) industrial district located in the southeastern portion of Somerville, Massachusetts, United States. Along with nearby Brickbottom, the Inner Belt is a historically industrial zone of Somerville, with factories, warehouses, distribution centers, railroad connections, regional maintenance facilities, MBTA and Amtrak offices, retail stores and a hotel.
The Green Line Extension (GLX) was a construction project to extend the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line light rail system northwest into Somerville and Medford, two inner suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. The project opened in two phases in 2022 at a total cost of $2.28 billion. Total ridership on the 4.3-mile (6.9 km) extension is estimated to reach 45,000 one-way trips per day in 2030.
Sullivan Square is a traffic circle located at the north end of the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is named after James Sullivan, an early 19th-century Governor of Massachusetts. Sullivan Square station on the MBTA Orange Line is located just west of the square.
Medford/Tufts station is a light rail station on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line located off Boston Avenue near College Avenue in Medford, Massachusetts, adjacent to Tufts University. The accessible station has a single island platform serving the two tracks of the Medford Branch. It opened on December 12, 2022, as part of the Green Line Extension (GLX), which added two northern branches to the Green Line, and is the northern terminus of the E branch.
Ball Square station is a light rail station on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line located at Ball Square in Somerville and Medford, Massachusetts. The accessible station has a single island platform serving the two tracks of the Medford Branch. It opened on December 12, 2022, as part of the Green Line Extension (GLX), which added two northern branches to the Green Line, and is served by the E branch.
Magoun Square station is a light rail station on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line located at Lowell Street south of Magoun Square in Somerville, Massachusetts. The accessible station has a single island platform serving the two tracks of the Medford Branch. It opened on December 12, 2022, as part of the Green Line Extension (GLX), which added two northern branches to the Green Line, and is served by the E branch.
Gilman Square station is a light rail station on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line located at Gilman Square in Somerville, Massachusetts. The accessible station has a single island platform serving the two tracks of the Medford Branch. It opened on December 12, 2022, as part of the Green Line Extension (GLX), which added two northern branches to the Green Line, and is served by the E branch.
East Somerville station is a light rail station on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line located in southeastern Somerville, Massachusetts. The accessible station has a single island platform serving the two tracks of the Medford Branch. It opened on December 12, 2022, as part of the Green Line Extension (GLX), which added two northern branches to the Green Line, and is served by the E branch.
Union Square station is a light rail station on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line located in the Union Square neighborhood of southeastern Somerville, Massachusetts. The accessible terminal station has a single island platform serving the two tracks of the Union Square Branch, which parallels the Fitchburg Line. It opened on March 21, 2022, as part of the Green Line Extension (GLX), which added two northern branches to the Green Line.