Northampton station was an elevated rapid transit station located above Washington Street at Massachusetts Avenue in the South End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It served the Washington Street Elevated, part of the MBTA's Orange Line, from 1901 until 1987.
Northampton | |||||||||||||||
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 Northampton station in the 1970s | |||||||||||||||
| General information | |||||||||||||||
| Location | Washington Street at Massachusetts Avenue Boston, Massachusetts | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 42°20′11″N 71°04′38″W / 42.3363°N 71.0772°W | ||||||||||||||
| Line(s) | Washington Street Elevated | ||||||||||||||
| Platforms | 2 side platforms | ||||||||||||||
| Tracks | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Connections |  MBTA bus: 1, 8 | ||||||||||||||
| Construction | |||||||||||||||
| Bicycle facilities | 2 spaces (Silver Line) | ||||||||||||||
| Accessible | Yes (Silver Line) | ||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||
| Opened | June 10, 1901[1] July 20, 2002 (Silver Line) | ||||||||||||||
| Closed | April 30, 1987[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Passengers | |||||||||||||||
| 2012 | 1,142 (weekday average boardings)[2] | ||||||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||||||
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| Former services | |||||||||||||||
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Massachusetts Avenue station, a street-level bus station on the Washington Street branch of the MBTA Silver Line bus rapid transit service, opened on the site in 2002. It is served by the SL4 and SL5 Silver Line routes as well as several local MBTA bus routes. Like all Silver Line stops, Massachusetts Avenue is accessible.
History
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The Washington Street Elevated, including Northampton station, opened as part of the Main Line Elevated on June 10, 1901.[1] It was originally built with a short center island platform, similar to Dover station to the north. Like most of the other Elevated stations, both were designed in a Beaux Arts style by Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow Jr.[3] Mere months after opening, both stations had their platforms extended for four-car trains; the platforms at Northampton were extended again in 1908 to six-car length.[3] Unlike Dover station, which was completely rebuilt in 1912, Northampton station received no substantial modifications other than the extended platform.[4]
On December 5, 1960, the MTA began operating "modified express service" on the Elevated during the morning rush hour. Every other train bypassed four stops; Northampton was bypassed only by northbound trains, with southbound trains instead bypassing Egleston.[5][6] This was discontinued in September 1961 to reduce wait times at the skipped stations, all of which were outdoors.[7]
The Main Line Elevated was renamed the Orange Line in 1965. Northampton station was closed on April 30, 1987, when the Washington Street Elevated was closed and the Orange Line was rerouted to the west along the Southwest Corridor.[1] Because it retained its original style, the station building at Northampton was selected for preservation.[8] It was detached from the elevated structure and moved to the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine in 1988.[9] Around 1989, a gas station at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Columbus Avenue was built to resemble the former station.[10]
Silver Line service on Washington Street began on July 20, 2002, replacing the route 49 bus. Service levels doubled on October 15, 2009 with the introduction of the SL4 route.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). Boston Street Railway Association.
- ^ "Ridership and Service Statistics" (PDF) (14th ed.). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 2014.
- ^ a b Zaitzevsky, Cynthia R. (July 1986). "Written Historical and Descriptive Data" (PDF). National Park Service / Historic American Engineering Record. p. 31.
- ^ Cheney, Frank; Sammarco, Anthony M. (2000). When Boston Rode The El. Arcadia Publishing. p. 105. ISBN 9780738504629.
- ^ "MTA Advisory Board Supports Cuts". The Boston Globe. December 1, 1960. pp. 1, 15 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "M.T.A. Express Train Gets 'A' From Riders". The Boston Globe. December 5, 1960. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "M.T.A. Dropping Morning Express". The Boston Globe. September 27, 1961. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Elder, Andrew; Fox, Jeremy C. (2013). Boston's Orange Line. Arcadia Publishing. p. 69. ISBN 9781467120470.
- ^ Poftak, Steve (December 7, 2012). "Where Do MBTA Cars Go When They Die?". Boston Magazine.
- ^ Ackerman, Jerry (September 25, 1989). "For Registry inspectors, analyzing accidents starts with bits and pieces". Boston Globe. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
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Media related to Northampton station (MBTA) at Wikimedia Commons
- MBTA: Washington St @ Massachusetts Ave northbound and southbound