Tremont Street subway

	Tremont Street subway
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	U.S. National Historic Landmark
	A flying junction on the now-abandoned southern branch of the Tremont Street subway, south of Boylston station, approaching the Pleasant Street incline (1898 photo)
Location	Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°21′23″N71°3′47″W / 42.35639°N 71.06306°W
Built	1897
Architect	Carson, Howard A.
Architectural style	Classical Revival
NRHP reference No.	66000788
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	October 15, 1966;57 years ago
Designated NHL	January 29, 1964;60 years ago

Last updated March 03, 2024

The Tremont Street subway in Boston's MBTA subway system is the oldest subway tunnel in North America and the third-oldest still in use worldwide to exclusively use electric traction (after the City and South London Railway in 1890, and the Budapest Metro's Line 1 in 1896), opening on September 1, 1897.^[2]^[3] It was originally built, under the supervision of Howard A. Carson as chief engineer, to get streetcar lines off the traffic-clogged streets, instead of as a true rapid transit line. It now forms the central part of the Green Line, connecting Boylston Street to Park Street and Government Center stations.

History

The tunnel originally served five closely spaced stations: Boylston, Park Street, Scollay Square, Adams Square, and Haymarket, with branches to the Public Garden portal and Pleasant Street incline south of Boylston. Park Street, Scollay Square, and Haymarket stations were altered over the next two decades as transfers were added to the Cambridge–Dorchester subway, East Boston Tunnel, and Main Line Elevated (now part of the Red, Blue, and Orange Lines, respectively).

Boylston and Park Street were built with rectangular stone headhouses designed by Edmund M. Wheelwright that did not aesthetically match the Common. Scollay Square and Adams Square had similar baroque headhouses with four-sided clock towers. Unlike the interior decor, the headhouses were sharply criticized as "resembling mausoleums" and "pretentiously monumental".^[4]^[5] Later stations on the East Boston Tunnel and Washington Street Tunnel incorporated this criticism into their more modest headhouses.^[4]

In 1963, the northern part of the tunnel was extensively altered during the construction of Government Center and a new Boston City Hall on what had been the neighborhood of Scollay Square. The northbound tunnel to Haymarket station was rerouted to the west (the southbound tunnel is still original). Scollay Square station was rebuilt as Government Center station, and Adams Square station was closed.^[6] Much of the old northbound tunnel was filled in to support the City Hall foundation; another section was turned into a delivery tunnel. Another section was rediscovered by a City Hall employee in 1983; a 150-foot (46 m) piece was renovated for use as records storage.^[7]

In 1971, the original Haymarket station was replaced with a new station just to the south.^[6]

Disused southern tunnel branch

The subway in 1897 consisted of a main line under Tremont Street running to Park Street, where is splits into two forks. One fork connects to the Boylston Street subway, which turns westward under Boylston Street. The other fork continues south under Tremont Street to the Pleasant Street incline. This portal was used by streetcars that went southwest to Egleston via the South End, along Tremont Street (route 43), or southeast to City Point in South Boston via Broadway (route 9). Streetcar service through the southern portal ended in 1962; for the last several months, service consisted of a shuttle between the portal and Boylston station. The tunnel still exists, dead-ended at the now-buried portal, which has been converted to a public park.^[8] However, there have been proposals for the disused tunnel to become part of a new streetcar line that would partly replace access to rapid transit for southern Metro Boston neighborhoods that lost rapid transit service in 1987 with the demolition of the Washington Street Elevated southern section of the Orange Line. This proposed new streetcar service could go as far south as the Red Line's Mattapan station, with a northern turnaround terminus at Government Center, according to a 2012-dated proposal.^[9]

Portals

The three original tunnel entrances were in the Boston Public Garden, at North Station/Canal Street, and at Pleasant Street. Over time, these portals were replaced and abandoned as the subway was extended. Vestiges of various closed portals are still visible inside the main Green Line's Boylston Street subway tunnel extending west of Boylston station towards Kenmore Square station.

The western Public Garden portal was replaced in 1914 with two portals, one in the middle of Boylston Street adjacent to the old portal, and the other at the west end of the Boylston Street subway, just east of Kenmore Square. The Boylston Street portal was sealed in 1941 when the Huntington Avenue subway was opened (with a new portal at Northeastern University). The portal at Kenmore Square was replaced in 1932 when the subway was extended west beyond the Square, to the existing portals on Commonwealth Avenue (the "B" branch) and Beacon Street (the "C" branch), although the top arch of the original portal survives as part of a ventilation shaft. The Fenway portal for the D branch was opened in 1959.

The northern portal at Canal Street was replaced in 2004 when the subway was extended beneath North Station to a new portal next to Martha Road.

The southern portal at Pleasant Street was abandoned in 1962 following the end of streetcar service through the South End. The portal has since been sealed up and covered by Elliot Norton Park, but the dead-ended tunnel to Boylston survives underground, for a possibility of future re-use (see above).

Power

The subway uses trolleys powered by electricity from overhead lines, which had been made possible by the invention of the trolley pole in 1880 by Frank J. Sprague,^[10] from his design for the Richmond Union Passenger Railway. The line has been pantograph-only since the trolley wires were modified in the 1990s.^{[ citation needed ]}

Landmark status and ownership

The Tremont Street subway was designated a National Historic Landmark in recognition for its pioneering role in the development of the subway as a public transit system in the United States. The landmark designation encompasses the still-extant portions of the early tunnel, roughly from Court Street to Charles Street, and includes the original Classical Revival head houses of the Park and Boylston stations which are still in use.^[11]

The original owner of the Tremont Street subway was the private West End Street Railway, later the Boston Elevated Railway. Public ownership began in 1947 with the Metropolitan Transit Authority, now the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

Related Research Articles

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.

Park Street station is an MBTA subway station in Boston, Massachusetts. It is located at the intersection of Park Street and Tremont Street at the eastern edge of Boston Common in Downtown Boston. One of the two oldest stations on the "T", Park Street is the transfer point between the Green and Red lines, as one of the quartet of "hub stations" on the MBTA subway system. Park Street is the fifth-busiest station in the MBTA network, with an average of 16,571 entries each weekday in FY2019.

Kenmore station is a light rail station on the MBTA Green Line, located under Kenmore Square in the Fenway/Kenmore neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The station opened on October 23, 1932 as a one-station extension of the Boylston Street subway to relieve congestion in the square. Kenmore is the primary station for passengers wishing to visit Fenway Park, located one block away.

Harvard station is a rapid transit and bus transfer station in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Located at Harvard Square, it serves the MBTA's Red Line subway system as well as MBTA buses. Harvard averaged 18,528 entries each weekday in FY2019, making it the third-busiest MBTA station after Downtown Crossing and South Station. Five of the fifteen key MBTA bus routes stop at the station.

Government Center station is an MBTA subway station in Boston, Massachusetts. It is located at the intersection of Tremont, Court and Cambridge Streets in the Government Center area. It is a transfer point between the light rail Green Line and the rapid transit Blue Line. With the Green Line platform having opened in 1898, the station is the third-oldest operating subway station in the MBTA system; only Park Street and Boylston are older. The station previously served Scollay Square before its demolition for the creation of Boston City Hall Plaza.

Haymarket station is an underground Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) rapid transit station located at Haymarket Square in Boston, Massachusetts. It is a transfer station between the Green Line and Orange Line of the MBTA subway system, as well as a terminal for MBTA bus routes serving northern and northeastern suburbs. The two lines run parallel to each other through the station, with two side platforms for the Orange Line and a single island platform for the Green Line. The station is fully accessible.

Boylston station is a light rail station on the MBTA Green Line in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, located on the southeast corner of Boston Common at the intersection of Boylston Street and Tremont Street. A southbound street-level stop for the SL5 route of the bus rapid transit Silver Line is outside fare control. The station has two island platforms; each has one disused track, making them effectively side platforms. Boylston is not accessible for Green Line trains.

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.

Hynes Convention Center station is an underground light rail station on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line. It is located at the intersection of Newbury Street and Massachusetts Avenue near the western end of the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The station is named for the Hynes Convention Center, which is located about 700 feet (210 m) to the east along Boylston Street. It has two side platforms serving the two tracks of the Boylston Street subway, which are used by the Green Line B branch, C branch, and D branch. The main entrance to the station from Massachusetts Avenue leads to a fare lobby under the 360 Newbury Street building.

The Pleasant Street incline or Pleasant Street portal was the southern access point for the Tremont Street subway in Boston, Massachusetts, which became part of the Green Line after the incline was closed. The portal and the section of tunnel connecting it to Boylston served streetcars from 1897 to 1901, Main Line Elevated trains from 1901 to 1908, and streetcars again from 1908 to 1962. The Pleasant Street incline is now abandoned, but plans have been floated at various times to reuse it.

The E branch is a light rail line in Boston, Cambridge, Medford, and Somerville, Massachusetts, operating as part of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line. The line runs in mixed traffic on South Huntington Avenue and Huntington Avenue between Heath Street and Brigham Circle, in the median of Huntington Avenue to Northeastern University, then into the Huntington Avenue subway. The line merges into the Boylston Street subway just west of Copley, running to North Station via the Tremont Street subway. It then follows the Lechmere Viaduct to Lechmere, then the Medford Branch to Medford/Tufts. As of February 2023, service operates on eight-minute headways at weekday peak hours and eight to nine-minute headways at other times, using 13 to 17 trains.

The B branch, also called the Commonwealth Avenue branch or Boston College branch, is a branch of the MBTA Green Line light rail system which operates on Commonwealth Avenue west of downtown Boston, Massachusetts. One of four branches of the Green Line, the B branch runs from Boston College station down the median of Commonwealth Avenue to Blandford Street. There, it enters Blandford Street portal into Kenmore station, where it merges with the C and D branches. The combined services run into the Boylston Street subway and Tremont Street subway to downtown Boston. B branch service has terminated at Government Center since October 2021. Unlike the other branches, the B branch runs solely through the city limits of Boston. The Green Line Rivalry between Boston College and Boston University is named in reference to the B branch, which runs to both universities.

The A branch or Watertown Line was a streetcar line in the Boston, Massachusetts, area, operating as a branch of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Green Line. The line ran from Watertown through Newton Corner, Brighton, and Allston to Kenmore Square, then used the Boylston Street subway and Tremont Street subway to reach Park Street station.

As with many large cities, a large number of Boston-area streetcar lines once existed, and many continued operating into the 1950s. However, only a few now remain, namely the four branches of the Green Line and the Ashmont–Mattapan High-Speed Line, with only one running regular service on an undivided street.

Bowdoin station is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) rapid transit station in Bowdoin Square in Boston, Massachusetts. The station is the downtown terminus of the Blue Line, part of the MBTA subway system. It has a single wedge-shaped island platform located inside a balloon loop. Bowdoin is the only Blue Line station that is not accessible.

The Washington Street Elevated was an elevated segment of Boston's Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway system, comprising the southern stretch of the Orange Line. It ran from Chinatown through the South End and Roxbury, ending in Forest Hills in Jamaica Plain, Boston.

Prudential station is an underground light rail station on the MBTA Green Line E branch, located below Huntington Avenue next to the Prudential Tower complex near Belvidere Street in Boston, Massachusetts. Prudential station is accessible, featuring low raised platforms and elevator service to the Huntington Arcade of the Prudential Center shopping mall at the base of the Prudential Tower.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) operates rapid transit, light rail, and bus rapid transit services in the Boston metropolitan area, collectively referred to as the rapid transit, subway, or the T system.

Adams Square was an underground streetcar station located at Adams Square in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It opened in 1898 and was used until 1963.

North Station is an underground MBTA subway station in Boston, Massachusetts. Served by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line and Orange Line, it is connected to the North Station surface terminal used by MBTA Commuter Rail and Amtrak. The station is fully accessible.

References

↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
↑ The Boston Daily Globe, "First Car off the Earth: Allston Electric Goes into the subway on schedule time.", The Boston Daily Globe, September 1, 1897. Experiences of the first Subway Riders in Boston.
↑ Most, Doug (26 January 2014). "The bigger dig". Boston Globe. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
1 2 Coburn, Frederick W. (November 1910). "Rapid Transit and Civic Beauty". New Boston. Vol. 1, no. 7. pp. 307–314 – via Google Books.
↑ Rettig, Polly M. (June 14, 1976). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form: Tremont Street Subway". National Park Service.
1 2 Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). Boston Street Railway Association.
↑ Kruh, David (1999). Always Something Doing: Boston's Infamous Scollay Square . Northeastern University Press. pp. 135-136. ISBN 1555534104.
↑ Bierman, Noah (December 26, 2009). "Transit archeology: Tour of abandoned subway network offers a glimpse of how the T was built". Boston Globe.
↑ "Roxbury-Dorchester-Mattapan Transit Needs Study" (PDF). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. September 2012. p. 53. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
↑ "Boston Transit Milestones", MIT course, 2002 (archived 2007)
↑ "NHL nomination for Tremont Street Subway". National Park Service. Retrieved 2014-06-06.

External links

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[nris-1] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.

[2] The Boston Daily Globe, "First Car off the Earth: Allston Electric Goes into the subway on schedule time.", The Boston Daily Globe, September 1, 1897. Experiences of the first Subway Riders in Boston.

[dougmost-3] Most, Doug (26 January 2014). "The bigger dig". Boston Globe. Retrieved 22 January 2016.

[newboston-4] 1 2 Coburn, Frederick W. (November 1910). "Rapid Transit and Civic Beauty". New Boston. Vol. 1, no. 7. pp. 307–314 – via Google Books.

[nrhp-5] Rettig, Polly M. (June 14, 1976). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form: Tremont Street Subway". National Park Service.

[netransit-6] 1 2 Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). Boston Street Railway Association.

[doing-7] Kruh, David (1999). Always Something Doing: Boston's Infamous Scollay Square . Northeastern University Press. pp. 135-136. ISBN 1555534104.

[tour-8] Bierman, Noah (December 26, 2009). "Transit archeology: Tour of abandoned subway network offers a glimpse of how the T was built". Boston Globe.

[9] "Roxbury-Dorchester-Mattapan Transit Needs Study" (PDF). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. September 2012. p. 53. Retrieved 4 October 2017.

[10] "Boston Transit Milestones", MIT course, 2002 (archived 2007)

[NHL-11] "NHL nomination for Tremont Street Subway". National Park Service. Retrieved 2014-06-06.

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