Roslindale Substation - Boston, MA - Historic Transformer Sub-Stations Buildings on Waymarking.com

In Boston's Roslindale neighborhood is a large brick building that was originally transformed power for a transit system.

The building is located at the corner of Washington Street and Cummins Highway, across the street from both Adams Park and the Roslindale Community Center.

The building is a large squarish brick building. There are three large arched windows on the Cummins Highway side, and one boarded up window on the Washington Street side. There is different colored material around the windows and decorative squares run in a line about 2/3 up the wall. The Washington Street side has a peaked facade.

An article on Historic Boston, Inc. has some history on this building:

"The Substation, located at 4228 Washington St., across from Roslindale Square, was once an essential tool in power operations of Boston’s transit system.

It functioned as part of the Boston Elevated Railway Company’s then revolutionary alternating electric current power system. Designed by architect Robert Peabody of Peabody and Stearns with Stone and Webster Engineering Corporation, the Substation is one of six nearly identical converter substations built in and around Boston at that time.

The Substation converted alternating current (AC) transmitted from a new South Boston Power Station via underground cables into direct current (DC) for use by local trolley cars. The Roslindale Substation continued operating until the1970s but has been vacant and unused since then.

The Boston Redevelopment Authority tentatively designated Historic

...

The two-story substation is 8,000 gross square feet. This new addition to an increasingly vibrant and active Roslindale Square will revive a prominent corner and restore some of the historic fabric of the neighborhood.

...The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places."

The beer retailer is still there, but there is no restaurant. The article also related that there was an overhead crane in the building that was being repositioned.

Sources:

Historic Boston, Inc. (1911 Roslindale Station):

Wikipedia (Roslindale Substation):
(visit link)

Universal Hub (Roslindale Substation...)

Creation date: 1/1/1911 Current use: Beer retailer on bottom floor, unoccupied in the main space. Status: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
To post a visit log for waymarks in this category, you must have personally visited the waymark location. When logging your visit, please provide a note describing your visit experience, along with any additional information about the waymark or the surrounding area that you think others may find interesting.

We especially encourage you to include any pictures that you took during your visit to the waymark. You do not have to be in the picture, neither does your GPSr.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.