Atlantic Avenue Station
Atlantic Avenue
East Boston, Mass.
Year Built: 1906
Year Demolished: 1949
The station was built in 1906 and was designed by Brigham as well as Willard Adden. The station opened on April 5, 1906, more than a year after the tunnel was completed. It stood at the downtown end of a tunnel that squirreled its way beneath the water of Boston Harbor, emerging at Maverick Square in East Boston. This was the world's first underwater transit tunnel. It served streetcars until 1924 and rapid-transit cars afterward. The headhouse was built tall in order to connect not only with the below-grade subway but also with an elevated line that continued to serve the station until 1938. Four elevators were used, making a diagonal and vertical connection. This station was likely demolished in the 1950s to make way for the elevated central artery. The successor station today is the Aquarium Station on the MBTAs Blue Line.
The building housing the emergency stairway was on State Street. Another portion of the station that was directly on Atlantic Avenue was not designed by Brigham.
The contract for the 3-story building was given to Woodbury & Leighton Co. The building was 84 feet long and 29 feet wide. The entrance was at the easterly end and the exits were at the sides and west end. There were four elevators, two serving the east-bound platform and two the westbound. The second floor, about 13½-feet above the street, was nearly identical in plan and arrangement with the first floor and contains a bridge to the adjacent station. The 3d floor contains elevator equipment.
Brigham received fees of $1,062.37 in 1905 and $1,247.90 in 1906.
Oddly, this station sits on State Street and is called Atlantic Avenue Station and the station that sits on Atlantic Avenue (not designed by Brigham) is called State Street Station. This is all confirmed on maps of the era.
References
• Boston Transit Commission, Eleventh Annual Report for the Year Ending June 30, 1906
• Boston Transit Commission, Eleventh Annual Report for the Year Ending June 30, 1905.
• Robert Campbell and Peter Vanderwarker, Doors to the Underground, Boston Globe 2/13/2005.
Images
Main Station, ca. 1915, showing the western side of the station
Emergency Exit on State Street
Eastern side of station, 1915
Boston Transit Commission Annual Report, 1905
Boston Transit Commission Annual Report, 1906
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