Washington Street (Boston) - History

History

The part of Washington Street between downtown Boston and Dudley Square in Roxbury was the first road connecting the small town of Boston to the mainland, carrying the Boston Post Road to New York City. It was originally known by several names:

• Cornhill from Adams Square (now just south of Boston City Hall) south to School Street
• Marlborough Street from School Street south to Summer Street/Winter Street
• Newbury Street from Summer Street/Winter Street south to Essex Street/Boylston Street
• Orange Street from Essex Street/Boylston Street south to the fortification near East Berkeley Street (then Dover Street)

On July 4, 1788, the road south of the fortification, to the line with Roxbury, was given the name Washington Street. The name was extended north to Adams Square on July 6, 1824, and north on a new road to Haymarket Square on November 6, 1872.

The part north of Roxbury Street in Dudley Square, Roxbury was laid out as a public way on January 19, 1662, and given its name May 9, 1825. Additionally, the Washington Street name went west on Roxbury Street, Tremont Street and Huntington Avenue (the path of the Boston Post Road) to the border with Brookline (which still has a Washington Street as an extension of this one).

The Norfolk and Bristol Turnpike was established in 1803, and built as a turnpike as a straighter alternate to two roads between Boston and Providence—the Lower Boston Post Road (via Norwood and Foxborough) and the road via Walpole and Wrentham. It ran from Dudley Square to the Rhode Island line and beyond to downtown Pawtucket. Coincidentally the only part not built as a new road was the part through North Attleborough that US 1 now bypasses.

The southern half of the turnpike got little use as it avoided all the towns, where travelers wanted to stop, and had some steep grades. In fact, until the 1930s, when the current highway (part of US 1) was built between Boston and Providence, the southern half remained a dirt road.

The part of the turnpike in Roxbury was laid out as a public road in June 1857. It was named Shawmut Avenue, as an extension of that road from Dudley Square. The portion in West Roxbury was named Shawmut Avenue February 3, 1858.

On July 2, 1860, Tremont Street was extended west from its former south end along former Washington Street to Brookline, and Washington Street now ended at Columbus Street (then Pynchon Street). The rest of the road west from Dudley Square became Roxbury Street on June 16, 1874, and at the same time Washington Street was extended south from Dudley Square along the former Shawmut Street to the line with Dedham.

South from downtown Dedham, the turnpike went not via the current Washington Street, but via School Street and Court Street.

The part of Washington Street north of Haymarket Square was known as Charlestown Street until around 1900.

The first state highway in Boston was the part of Washington Street from Dedham to West Roxbury Parkway (at Lagrange Street). It was taken over by the Massachusetts Department of Public Works in 1908. The short piece in West Roxbury Parkway, to just north of the road through the parkway, was taken over in 1921; the next state highway in Boston was the Southern Artery in 1926.