Park Street Subway
Posted by: Groundspeak Regular Member Shorelander
N 42° 21.389 W 071° 03.740
19T E 330156 N 4691417
A marker commemorating the first subway in America.
Waymark Code: WM9YW
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 04/05/2006
Published By:Groundspeak Regular Member Shorelander
Views: 40
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If you've visited Boston, most likely you've experienced the Park Street Subway (also known as the Tremont Street Subway). Now part of the Green Line, this subway was the first constructed in America.

An ill-faring Boston 200 marker describes the first days of the subway. The marker is located in Boston Common, at the southeastern of the two entrances to the subway on the western corner of Park and Tremont Streets. The marker reads:

"The first subway in America was designed to solve the center-city problem of traffic jams caused by streetcars. The new subway opened September 1, 1897. It had only two stops: Park Street and Boylston-Public Garden. To the surprise of critics, the buildings along Tremont Street did not fall down."

A plaque on the northwestern entrance informs readers that in 1978, the Boston subway was designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Entering the subway from the northwestern entrance, there is also a plaque above the escalators as you descend, reading:

"This subway, authorized by the legislatures of 1893 and 1894. Hon. Nathan Matthews Jr, mayor of the City of Boston. Built by the Boston Transit Commission - Howard Adams Carson, Chief Engineer. Begun at the Public Garden 28 March 1895; was opened to this point for public travel 1 September 1897."

If you enter the T station, you can find even more information about the subway on placards and posters, with a funky mosaic-like thing on the far outbound track's wall, various captioned photographs, and blown-up newspaper articles about the opening.
Agency Responsible for Placement: Boston 200

Year Placed: 1976

County: Suffolk

City/Town Name: Boston

Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]

Agency Responsible for Placement (if not in list above): Not listed
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