Commonwealth Avenue (Boston)
![]() Commonwealth Avenue in 2006 | |
Length | 11.0 mi (17.7 km)[1] |
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West end | ![]() |
Major junctions | ![]() ![]() |
To | Arlington Street in Back Bay |
North | Marlborough Street (Back Bay) |
South | Newbury Street (Back Bay) |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/1870_BackBay_July4_map_byFFuchs_JohnWeik_detail.png/300px-1870_BackBay_July4_map_byFFuchs_JohnWeik_detail.png)
Commonwealth Avenue (colloquially referred to as Comm Ave) is a major street in the cities of
Description
Often compared to
Where Commonwealth Avenue reaches
The linear 1.5 miles (2.4 km) stretch of Commonwealth Avenue between Kenmore Square and Packard's Corner (where Brighton Avenue maintains a straight continuum and Commonwealth Avenue splits off) contains much of Boston University's campus. BU owns much of the property along and around this part of Commonwealth Avenue.[citation needed] This 1.5-mile stretch is the most central route to commuting around Boston University's main campus, also known as the Charles River Campus, and is frequented by pedestrians, bicycles, and other means of transportation. Walking from one end (Kenmore Square) to the other end (Packard's Corner) or vice versa takes about 25–35 minutes.[citation needed]
History
The Commonwealth Avenue Mall was designed by Arthur Delevan Gilman.[2] Frederick Law Olmsted designed the Newton portion of Commonwealth Avenue and included the parkway as part of the Emerald Necklace park system. The first statue on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall was erected in 1865 at Arlington Street.[3]
The Newton end of the roadway was constructed in 1895 with a line of the
The addition of
Statuary
Starting at the
- Alexander Hamilton, co-author of The Federalist Papers, sculpted by William Rimmer. The first statue placed on the mall. 1865.
- Statue of John Glover, (depicts John Glover, Revolutionary War soldier), sculpted by Martin Milmore. 1875.
- Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson. Moved in 1966 from its original siting at Charlesgate due to construction of the Bowker Overpass.
- The Vendome Memorial, which honors nine firefighters killed in the 1972 Hotel Vendome fire, sculpted by Theodore Clausen with landscape architect Peter White. 1997.[7]
- William Lloyd Garrison, abolitionist and journalist, sculpted by Owen Levi Warner.
- Samuel Eliot Morison, naval historian and writer, sculpted by Penelope Jencks. 1982.
- The Boston Women's Memorial, with statues of Abigail Adams, Lucy Stone, and Phillis Wheatley, sculpted by Meredith Bergmann. 2003.
- Domingo Sarmiento, former president of Argentina, sculpted by Yvette Compagnion. 1973. A gift of the Argentine government in 1913, the statue arrived in Boston sixty years later.
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Hamilton Statue, 19th century
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Statue of Samuel Eliot Morison on the mall, 2006
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The Commonwealth Avenue Mall looking west towards the Alexander Hamilton statue, 2006
Gallery
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c. 1881
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c. 1886
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Vendome, 19th century
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1901
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Overview of Commonwealth Ave., Brighton, 2007
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Overview, near Kenmore Square, 2007
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Comm. Ave, near Boston University, 2009
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Near Massachusetts Avenue, 2010
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Commonwealth Avenue Mall with statue of William Lloyd Garrison, 2013
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Phillis Wheatley detail of Boston Women's Memorial, 2013
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Magnolias, Commonwealth Avenue, 2013
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Brownstones
References
- ^ Google (May 24, 2019). "Commonwealth Avenue" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ "Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay - Commonwealth Mall". Archived from the original on March 11, 2007.
- ^ "NABB - Comm Ave. Mall Statues: What's In A Name?". Archived from the original on July 16, 2006.
- ^ "First Concrete Street Contract Completed in Boston". Contractors and Engineers. July 1923. p. 68. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
- ^ "Auburndale Community Association page on Norumbega Park". Archived from the original on 2007-06-29. Retrieved 2007-06-25.
- ISSN 2213-624X.
- ^ Lowery, Wesley (June 17, 2012). "A father's sacrifice, a son's calling". Boston.com – via The Boston Globe.
- ^ "Leif Erikson statue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin". Shorpy.com (Dry Plate Glass Negative). The shores of Lake Michigan. c. 1899. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
- ^ Wikisource. . The Encyclopedia Americana (1920) – via
Further reading
- Comm. Ave Mall Statues: What's In A Name?
- Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee, Commonwealth Avenue Mall: A Walking Tour, pamphlet.
External links
- Boston University's Commonwealth Avenue Improvement Project
- Commomwealth Avenue Bridge Reconstruction (over Massachusetts Turnpike)