The First Subway in the US: Tremont Street Subway
The history of the revolutionary Tremont Street Subway in Boston. First newsletter first subway in the US.
The Tremont Street Subway was the first ever operated subway in North America.
The Tremont Street area was becoming overly crowded with streetcars. The streetcars began as horse-powered until electric streetcars were invented by Frank J. Sprague in 1886. The first horse-powered streetcar line in Boston began operation on in 1856. Up until 1888, horses were the way streetcars moved. The horses crowded the streets and made them dirty, and many horses ended up being injured on the job. Once the first electric streetcar began service in 1888, some issues improved, but the streets were still extremely overcrowded with streetcars. During this time, about 108 streetcars per hour would pass through the Tremont Street area. The streetcars would come to a standstill at times.
In 1887, Henry Melville Whitney proposed that the city make a subway under Tremont Street using the new electric streetcars. This idea was unfavorable to many residents due to the failure of other subway like ideas at the time in Europe. Despite the residents thoughts the city created the Boston Rapid Transit Committee to help solve the overcrowded streets. Eventually, in 1892 the committee decided the best plan was to create a subway connecting Boylston Street, Park Street, and Government Center stations. The idea for the subway was to link the subway tracks with the existing street tracks in less crowded areas. In 1894, the city created the Boston Transit Commission so that the subway could be built. Howard A. Carson was the chosen engineer for the subway. The Tremont Street Subway began construction in 1895.
The subway was made using the Cut-and-cover method. Cut-and-cover is the oldest form of creating subway tunnels and includes excavating a trench, building a tunnel, and then restoring the surface to its previous state. Due to the trench, it is a disruptive method, but it is also typically the most cost-effective. The subway line was planned to go through a burial ground. The line was allowed to go through because the graves were old and no one knew who they belonged to. When construction began, many bones were discovered, which residents were not very happy about. The subway line also went through a few people’s private property. The private properties were seized by the city and the owners were given large, generous settlements. During the construction in 1897, a gas leak occurred. The gas being sparked by a streetcar caused a explosion. The explosion caused damage to the area around it and the ongoing subway construction.
On September 1, 1987, The Tremont Street subway began service from the public garden to Boylston Station, ending at Park Street Station. 30 days after the Pleasant Street incline opened to connect the above-ground streetcars. About a year after Scollay Square Station, Adam Square Station, and Haymarket Station opened. The Canal Street incline also opened a year later. The Boston subway system continued to branch off from the Tremont Street area. Certain parts of the Tremont Street subway are still used in the modern-day Green Line.
The Tremont Street subway was definitely revolutionary at the time. Even though the street remained overcrowded and still is to this day, it is an important part of transit history in North America.
Thank you!!!
-Brody (Urbanismo)