Street signs at Boylston and Hereford Streets
Boylston Street in 1911

Boylston Street is a major east–west thoroughfare in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. The street begins in Boston's Chinatown neighborhood, forms the southern border of the Boston Public Garden and Boston Common, runs through Back Bay, and ends in Boston's Fenway neighborhood.

Name

As early as 1722, Boylston Street, then a short road on the outskirts of the town of Boston, was known as Frogg Lane or Frog Lane.[1] It was later renamed for Ward Nicholas Boylston (1747–1828),[2][3][4][5] a philanthropist and benefactor of Harvard University. Boylston, who was a descendant of Zabdiel Boylston,[6] was born in Boston and spent much of his life in it. Boylston Market, and the town of Boylston, Massachusetts, were also named for him.[4]

Route

From east to west, Boston's Boylston Street begins at the intersection of Essex Street and Washington Street in Boston's Chinatown neighborhood at the edge of Downtown Boston. It is a one-way street running west-to-east from Tremont Street to Washington Street. West of Tremont Street, it runs along the southern edge of the Boston Common and the Boston Public Garden. West of Arlington Street, it is a one-way street running eastbound, forming a major traffic artery and commercial street through the Back Bay neighborhood, where it passes along the north side of Copley Square. West of the Back Bay neighborhood, the street intersects with the Fenway to form the northern boundary of the Back Bay Fens. Here it intersects with the Charlesgate viaduct, connecting to Storrow Drive. West of this intersection, the street carries traffic in both directions as a two-way, six-lane street through Boston's Fenway neighborhood. It runs through high-rise, mixed-use buildings one block south of Fenway Park before ending at the intersection of Park Drive, Brookline Avenue, and the Riverway.

The MIT Rogers Building was at 497 Boylston Street when MIT had its original campus in Boston, before it moved to Cambridge in 1916.[7] A plaque on the building serves as a commemoration.

On April 15, 2013, 666 Boylston Street was the scene of two explosive detonations that occurred during the running of the 117th Boston marathon, which killed 3 people and wounded at least 264.

Landmarks

Transportation

The MBTA Green Line follows Boylston Street in Back Bay, with stops at Boylston, Arlington, Copley, and Hynes Convention Center.

See also

References

  1. Bonner, John (1722). "The town of Boston in New England". The Library of Congress. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
  2. "Ward Nicholas Boylston" Archived 2008-05-17 at the Wayback Machine, Princeton (Massachusetts) Historical Society
  3. Drake, Samuel Adams. Old landmarks and historic personages of Boston. Boston : James R. Osgood and Co., 1873.
  4. 1 2 Bentinck-Smith, William, "Nicholas Boylston and His Harvard Chair", Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Third Series, Vol. 93, (1981), pp. 17-39
  5. "A Letter from Nicholas Boylston (1771?-1839)", Bulletin of the Public library of the city of Boston, The Trustees, 1921. Cf.pp.307-309.
  6. "Boylston Family Papers: 1688-1979" Archived 2013-11-26 at the Wayback Machine, Massachusetts Historical Society.
  7. "Massachusetts Institute of Technology : President's Report 1921" Archived 2020-05-23 at the Wayback Machine. Mentions the Rogers Building on Boylston Street in Boston.
  8. "Massachusetts Historical Society: 1154 Boylston Street in Photographs".
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