Gilman Square (MBTA station)

GILMAN SQUARE

Construction at Gilman Square station site in July 2015
Location Medford Street at Pearl Street
Somerville, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°23′16.00″N 71°5′47.21″W / 42.3877778°N 71.0964472°W / 42.3877778; -71.0964472Coordinates: 42°23′16.00″N 71°5′47.21″W / 42.3877778°N 71.0964472°W / 42.3877778; -71.0964472
Owned by MBTA
Line(s)
  Green Line– "D" Branch
Platforms 1 island platform
Tracks 2
Construction
Parking No
Disabled access Yes
History
Opened 2020 (planned)
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station
toward Riverside
Green Line

Gilman Square is a planned station on the MBTA Green Line "D" Branch in Somerville, Massachusetts, planned to be constructed as part of the Green Line Extension.[1][2] Gilman Square will consist of one island platform, which will serve the "D" Branch's two tracks.

As of December 2013, the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) indicated that the Gilman Square station is expected to be completed by early 2019, as part of the Phase 3 of the Green Line Extension project. Elsewhere in Somerville, the Ball Square and Lowell Street stations are currently projected to open that year as well.

History

1908 postcard of Winter Hill station, located at Gilman Square

The Boston and Lowell Railroad opened between its namesake cities in 1835; local stops were added after several years. Winter Hill station was located at Gilman Square in Somerville, one of several stations in the city. The station building was a long wooden structure north of the tracks.[3] In 1870, the Lexington Branch was routed over the B&L east of Somerville Junction, increasing service to Winter Hill and several other stations.[4][5]

In 1888, a new stone station was built on the south side of the tracks; the wooden station was split into two sections which were reused as houses still standing near Magoun Square.[3][6][7] The new station was made of red marble ashlar with rough marble trim; the waiting room featured a marble fireplace.[7]

The inner suburban stations lost much of their ridership to streetcars, especially after the Lechmere Viaduct sped travel times to downtown beginning in 1911. In 1927, the Lexington Branch was reconnected to the Fitchburg Line; the 1870-built line west of Somerville Junction became the Fitchburg Cutoff used only by freight trains.[5] Three stations on the cutoff plus Prospect Hill and East Cambridge stations east of Winter Hill were closed entirely; the station buildings at Somerville Junction and Gilman Square were boarded up and service sharply reduced.[3][8] The station was finally closed in the early 1930s; the station building was demolished in 1934, though the stone base of the station is still used to house electric equipment.[7][3]

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the newly formed MBTA reopened several inner-suburb commuter rail stations in response to community desire for service that was faster if less frequent than buses. In 1976, Winter Hill station was considered for reactivation, but ridership was expected to be negligible due to the nearby 80, 88, 90, and 94 buses.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "MBTA Light Rail Transit System OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE PLAN" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 6 January 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  2. ↑ "Travel Forecasts: Systemwide Stats and SUMMIT Results" (PDF). Green Line Extension Project: FY 2012 New Starts Submittal. Massachusetts Department of Transportation. January 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Somerville Bicycle Committee and Somerville Historic Preservation Commission (31 May 2008). "Rails of the Past Guiding the Green Line of the Future" (PDF). City of Somerville.
  4. ↑ Humphrey, Thomas J.; Clark, Norton D. (1985). Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years. Boston Street Railway Association. p. 55. ISBN 9780685412947.
  5. 1 2 Karr, Ronald Dale (1995). The Rail Lines of Southern New England. Branch Line Press. p. 227. ISBN 0942147022.
  6. ↑ Samuels, Edward Augustus; Kimball, Henry Hatsings (1897). Somerville, past and present : an illustrated historical souvenir commemorative of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the establishment of the city government of Somerville, Massachusetts. Samuels and Kimball. pp. 464–468 – via Internet Archive.
  7. 1 2 3 "Somerville and New England History Collection: In the Spotlight". Somerville Public Library. February 2009. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  8. ↑ "FIVE B. & M. STATIONS WILL BE ABANDONED". Boston Daily Globe. 16 March 1927 – via Proquest Historical Newspapers. (subscription required (help)).
  9. ↑ Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation and Construction (22 April 1976). Capital needs developed at the corridor level: core and west (Report). Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation and Construction. p. 101-102.
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