When the Boston Elevated Railway Company broke ground for the Cambridge
Subway in May 1909, its intention was to provide the cities of Boston
and Cambridge with the finest and most efficient rapid-transit system of
the time. Other cities, such as New York and Philadelphia, paid close
attention, adopting many of the Cambridge Subway's revolutionary design
features. The subway became known as the Red Line and eventually
extended from Cambridge across the Charles River through Boston, serving
Dorchester, Braintree, and Mattapan.
Boston's Red Line: Bridging the
Charles from Alewife to Braintree details one of Boston's oldest and
busiest subway lines. This nostalgic collection of vintage photographs
documents the line's construction and its engineers and leaders, such as
Maj. Gen. William A. Bancroft, mayor of Cambridge and president of the
Boston Elevated Railway Company. In these pages, watch as crews break
ground in Harvard and Andrew Squares and see the 1929 trolleys that
replaced Mattapan's commuter train service. Through exciting, historic
photographs, Boston's Red Line: Bridging the Charles from Alewife to
Braintree tells the fascinating story of how the Crimson City's subway
became the modern Red Line, taking passengers beneath the streets of
Boston to landmarks such as Harvard Square, Massachusetts General
Hospital, historic Park Street, and the Longfellow Bridge.
