Boston Elevated Railway, Elevated Mainline, Washington Street, Boston, Suffolk County, MA

Significance: Elevated structure is the last remaining portion of a formerly extensive elevated rapid transit system built at the turn of the century in Boston. / This portion of the Orange Line elevated is historically significant as Boston's first elevated line, built during a period of world-wide interest and experimentation with elevated railways; and as the product of Boston's last privately-owned transit company, the Boston Elevated Railway Company. Architecturally, it is significant for the quality of its original station architecture, which was designed by the prominent local architect, Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow. Later alterations were carried out under consultation with other leading Boston architects, such as Robert Swain Peabody and Edmund Wheelwright. In general, it represented the most advanced transportation planning of its day and is a good case study, on a small scale, of rapid transit at the turn of the century.
Survey number: HAER MA-14
Building/structure dates: 1901 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1909 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1948 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1987 Demolished