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29-566: (Redirected from Mass Ave ) Massachusetts Avenue may refer to: Massachusetts Avenue (metropolitan Boston) , Massachusetts Massachusetts Avenue (MBTA Orange Line station) , a subway station on the MBTA Orange Line Massachusetts Avenue (MBTA Silver Line station) , a station on the MBTA Silver Line Washington Street route "Massachusetts Avenue",

58-727: A stop on the Silver Line bus, and LexPress. MBTA subway stations, from west to east, include Porter , Harvard , and Central along the Red Line ; both the Hynes Convention Center and Symphony along the Green Line ; and a station along the Orange Line under the Mass Ave. name. An additional stop at Arlington Center was mooted during the 1980s Red Line extension but ultimately

87-621: A 19th-century filling project, the Back Bay was a bay, west of the Shawmut Peninsula (on the far side from Boston Harbor ) between Boston and Cambridge , the Charles River entering from the west. This bay was tidal: the water rose and fell several feet over the course of each day, and at low tide much of the bay's bed was exposed as a marshy flat. As early as 5,200 years before present, Native Americans built fish weirs here, evidence of which

116-488: A residential-only area, commercial buildings were permitted from around 1890, and Back Bay now features many office buildings, including the John Hancock Tower , Boston's tallest skyscraper. It is also considered a fashionable shopping destination (especially Newbury and Boylston Streets , and the adjacent Prudential Center and Copley Place malls) and home to several major hotels. The Neighborhood Association of

145-798: A song by Amanda Palmer & the Grand Theft Orchestra from the 2012 album Theatre Is Evil Massachusetts Avenue (Halifax, NS) Massachusetts Avenue, Indianapolis , Indiana Massachusetts Avenue (San Diego Trolley station) , a station on the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System Massachusetts Avenue (Washington, D.C.) , the longest of the state named streets in Washington, D.C. Massachusetts Avenue Historic District (Washington, D.C.) Embassy Row Massachusetts Avenue Historic District (Worcester, Massachusetts) Massachusetts Avenue,

174-423: A street in the game Monopoly See also [ edit ] All pages with titles beginning with Massachusetts Avenue Massachusetts (disambiguation) Massachusetts Street , Lawrence, Kansas Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Massachusetts Avenue . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change

203-669: Is listed on the National Register of Historic Places , and is considered one of the best-preserved examples of 19th-century urban architecture in the United States. In 1966, the Massachusetts Legislature, "to safeguard the heritage of the city of Boston by preventing the despoliation" of the Back Bay, created the Back Bay Architectural District to regulate exterior changes to Back Bay buildings. Since

232-551: The Boston Public Garden ), Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth, Exeter, Fairfield, Gloucester and Hereford Streets. All of the west–east streets, except Commonwealth Avenue, are one-way streets. In the 1960s, the " High Spine " design plan, in conjunction with development plans, gave way to the construction of high-rise buildings along the Massachusetts Turnpike , which in turn allowed the development of major projects in

261-608: The Fens in 1900. Much of the old mill dam remains buried under present-day Beacon Street. The project was the largest of a number of land reclamation projects which, beginning in 1820, more than doubled the size of the original Shawmut Peninsula. Completion of the Charles River Dam in 1910 converted the former Charles estuary into a freshwater basin; the Charles River Esplanade was constructed to allow residents to enjoy

290-489: The Minuteman National Historical Park . The road, by the same name, continues northwest and west, through many different cities and towns. It largely parallels or joins Route 2 and Route 2A , all the way into central Massachusetts, with a few gaps at towns that have different names for the central road. For much of its length, Massachusetts Avenue is a center of commercial activity, especially through

319-551: The 1960s, the concept of a High Spine has influenced large-project development in Boston, reinforced by zoning rules permitting high-rise construction along the axis of the Massachusetts Turnpike , including air rights siting of buildings. Copley Square features Trinity Church , the Boston Public Library , the John Hancock Tower , and numerous other notable buildings. Prominent cultural and educational institutions in

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348-666: The Back Bay considers the neighborhood's bounds to be " Charles River on the North; Arlington Street to Park Square on the East; Columbus Avenue to the New York New Haven and Hartford right-of-way (South of Stuart Street and Copley Place ), Huntington Avenue , Dalton Street, and the Massachusetts Turnpike on the South; Charlesgate East on the West." Before its transformation into buildable land by

377-516: The Boston neighborhood of Dorchester and runs southeast-northwest through Boston, paralleling Interstate 93 for a short distance. Massachusetts Avenue passes below part of the Boston Medical Center complex near Harrison Street, before passing above routes 9 , 2 , and the Massachusetts Turnpike ( Interstate 90 ). It crosses the Charles River from the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston into

406-601: The adjacent Fenway neighborhood with Ipswich, Jersey, and Kilmarnock Streets. West of Hereford are Massachusetts Avenue (a regional thoroughfare crossing the Harvard Bridge to Cambridge and far beyond) and Charlesgate , which forms the Back Bay's western boundary. Setback requirements and other restrictions, written into the lot deeds of the newly filled Back Bay, produced harmonious rows of dignified three- to five-story residential brownstones (though most along Newbury Street are now in commercial or mixed use). The Back Bay

435-458: The area. The plan of Back Bay, by Arthur Gilman of the firm Gridley James Fox Bryant , was greatly influenced by Haussmann's renovation of Paris . It featured wide, parallel, tree-lined avenues unlike anything seen in other Boston neighborhoods. Five east–west corridors— Beacon Street (closest to the Charles), Marlborough Street, Commonwealth Avenue (actually two one-way thoroughfares flanking

464-499: The availability in the city at the time, and the area was fully built by around 1900. It is most famous for its rows of Victorian brownstone homes—considered one of the best preserved examples of 19th-century urban design in the United States—as well as numerous architecturally significant individual buildings, and cultural institutions such as the Boston Public Library , and Boston Architectural College . Initially conceived as

493-574: The city of Cambridge via the Harvard Bridge , where it passes both U.S. Route 3 and MA-Route 3 , it then bisects the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , passes through Central Square , and curves around two sides of Harvard Yard at Harvard Square . After Harvard Square it turns sharply northward, passes Harvard Law School , then passes through Porter Square , where it bears northwestward. It continues through North Cambridge , Arlington , and Lexington , where it enters

522-507: The end of the nineteenth century from what were separate roads. In Boston the road was previously called East Chester Park south of Chester Square and West Chester Park to the north (Chester Square is in the South End and is now called Chester Park). Across the river in Cambridge the road follows part of what was once Front Street near the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and then follows

551-512: The end, the project was an economic failure, and in 1857 a massive project was begun to "make land" by filling the area enclosed by the dam. The firm of Goss and Munson extended railroad lines to quarries in Needham, Massachusetts , 9 miles (14 km) away; a 35-car train carrying gravel and other fill arrived every 45 minutes, day and night. When the Needham gravel pits were exhausted, additional fill

580-654: The former Main Street south of the Battle Green and the former Monument Street north of the Battle Green. Massachusetts Avenue is served with direct connections for a number of the MBTA 's bus and subway routes between Lexington and Boston. Direct bus connections on Mass Ave include 1 , 8 , 10 , 16 , 17 , 39 , 43 , 47 , 55 , 62 , 64 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 83 , 86 , 91 , 96 , 170 , 350 , 351 , CT2 , CT3 ,

609-566: The former Main Street to Harvard Square (Main Street originally ran between Kendall and Harvard Squares, and the part to the east of Central Square retains the original name). From Harvard Square to the Arlington line at Alewife Brook it follows what had been North Avenue since 1838, and prior to that the Road to Menotomy. In Arlington it follows the former Arlington Avenue, and in Lexington it follows

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638-785: The larger towns. Apartments, shops, and restaurants fill both sides of it, and there is a lot of pedestrian traffic. A number of linear parks cut across various portions of Mass. Ave., including the Southwest Corridor Park , the Commonwealth Avenue portion of the Emerald Necklace , the Charles River Bike Path , the Cambridge Linear Park , Alewife Brook Reservation , and the Minuteman Bikeway . On

667-478: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Massachusetts_Avenue&oldid=1106421768 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Road disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Massachusetts Avenue (metropolitan Boston) The street begins at Everett Square in

696-573: The night of April 18–19, 1775, Paul Revere rode his horse down a portion of this road, then known as the Great Road, on his "Midnight Ride", and William Dawes and Samuel Prescott also rode on portions of this road on their way to Concord . These travels were on the Cambridge side of the Charles River ; the Harvard Bridge was not constructed until the 1880s. Massachusetts Avenue was formed at

725-466: The tree-lined pedestrian Commonwealth Avenue Mall), Newbury Street and Boylston Street —are intersected at regular intervals by north–south cross streets: Arlington (along the western edge of the Public Garden ), Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth, Exeter, Fairfield, Gloucester, and Hereford. An 1874 guidebook noted the trisyllabic-disyllabic alternation of that alphabetic sequence; the series continues in

754-411: The view of the new lagoon. The Esplanade has since undergone several changes, including the construction of Storrow Drive . The Back Bay is traversed by five east–west corridors: Beacon Street , Marlborough Street, Commonwealth Avenue , Newbury Street and Boylston Street . These are interrupted at regular intervals by north–south streets named alphabetically: Arlington (along the western border of

783-470: Was discovered during subway construction in 1913 ( see Ancient Fishweir Project and Boylston Street Fishweir ). In 1814, the Boston and Roxbury Mill Corporation was chartered to construct a milldam , which would also serve as a toll road connecting Boston to Watertown , bypassing Boston Neck . The dam prevented the natural tides from flushing sewage out to sea, creating severe sanitary and odor problems. With costs higher and power lower than expected, in

812-486: Was found in Canton, Dedham, Hyde Park, and Westwood. William Dean Howells recalled "the beginnings of Commonwealth Avenue, and the other streets of the Back Bay, laid out with their basements left hollowed in the made land, which the gravel trains were yet making out of the westward hills." Present-day Back Bay itself was filled by 1882; the project reached existing land at what is now Kenmore Square in 1890, and finished in

841-536: Was not constructed. Two MBTA Commuter Rail stations are located on Massachusetts Avenue, Porter in Cambridge and Newmarket at the South Bay Shopping Center in Dorchester . Back Bay Back Bay is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston , Massachusetts , built on reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded

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