Massachusetts Avenue (metropolitan Boston)
Massachusetts Avenue | |
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Route information | |
Component highways | |
East end | Columbia Rd. In Boston |
Location | |
Country | United States |
State | Massachusetts |
Highway system | |
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Massachusetts Avenue (colloquially referred to as Mass Ave) is a major thoroughfare in Boston, Massachusetts, and several cities and towns northwest of Boston. According to Boston magazine, "Its 16 miles of blacktop run from gritty industrial zones to verdant suburbia, homeless encampments, passing gentrified brownstones, college campuses and bustling commercial strips."[1]
Route
The street begins at
Extended route
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 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
Towns and cities on the Massachusetts Avenue route
- Boston
- Cambridge
- Arlington
- Lexington
- Concord (signed as North Great Road from Hanscom Field to the town bypass; route through town unclear; resumes on the Concord Turnpike west of town)
- Acton
- Boxborough
- Harvard
- Lunenburg signs Route 2A as Mass Ave, but there is no defined route through Shirley or Ayer.
Notable buildings, institutions, and landmarks along the route
- Mass and Cass
- Chester Square
- Matthews Arena, world's oldest functioning indoor sports venue
- Northeastern University
- Symphony Hall (Boston Symphony Orchestra)
- Horticultural Hall
- The Mary Baker Eddy Library and its Mapparium
- Christian Science Center
- Berklee College of Music
- Newbury Street
- Charles River
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Central Square
- Cambridge City Hall
- Harvard University
- Harvard Square
- Cambridge Common
- Lesley University
- Porter Square
- Watson's Corner
- Uncle Sam Memorial Statue
- Arlington Town Hall
- Jason Russell House
- Munroe Tavern
- Lexington Battle Green
History
Paul Revere's ride
On 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.
Early names and evolution
Massachusetts Avenue was formed at the end of the nineteenth century from what were separate roads. In
Mass transit
Massachusetts Avenue is served with direct connections for a number of the MBTA's bus and subway routes between Lexington and Boston.
Direct
Two
See also
- Fenway Theatre (1915-1972)
References
- ^ Leeds, Jared, The Mass Ave. Project, Boston magazine, November 2007, p.124
- ^ "> Schedules & Maps > Private Bus". MBTA. Retrieved 2012-10-16.
- ^ "Lexington, Massachusetts:Lexpress Bus". Lexingtonma.gov. 2012-07-01. Retrieved 2012-10-16.
- ISBN 0-309-06057-5. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
In contrast, the town of Arlington, concerned about traffic congestion, opposed the extension of the Red Line into its boundaries and its termination at Arlington Heights. As a result, the Red Line now terminates at Alewife, in North Cambridge.
Further reading
- "Cyclist places potted plants on Mass. Ave. to create temporary bike lane", Boston Globe, September 9, 2015
External links
- History of Mass Ave
- The Streets of Cambridge - Some Accounts of Their Origin And History, pp. 35-37
- "Pothole Repair Requests: Massachusetts Ave". Cambridge Open Data Portal. City of Cambridge. 2008.