Tremont Street

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Tremont Street is a major thoroughfare in Boston, Massachusetts.

Etymology

The name is a variation of one of the original appellations of the city, "Trimountaine," a reference to a hill that formerly had three peaks. Beacon Hill, with its single peak, is all that remains of the Trimountain. Much of the Trimountain was removed, and the earth used as fill to expand the Shawmut Peninsula. The two smaller peaks, Cotton Hill (or Pemberton Hill, at what is now Pemberton Square) and Mt. Whoredom (or Mt. Vernon, formerly at the location of the modern-day Louisburg Square) no longer exist.^[1] The central peak, Sentry Hill, now called Beacon Hill, is smaller than the original peak, which reached approximately to the height of the top of the State House.

A British military map of Boston from 1775, prepared by a Lieut. Sir Thomas Hyde Page of His Majesty's Corps of Engineers, shows Beacon Hill, Mount Whoredom, and another unnamed hill all just above Beacon Street. There is a small street on the northeast corner of Boston Common called "Treamount Street" from School Street to Hanover Street, the precursor of modern Tremont Street, running north from what was then called Common Street (modern Tremont Street alongside the eastern border of Boston Common).^[2]

Route

Tremont Street begins at Government Center in Boston's city center as a continuation of Cambridge Street, and forms the eastern edge of Boston Common. Continuing in a roughly southwesterly direction, it passes through Boston's Theater District, crosses the Massachusetts Turnpike, and becomes a broad boulevard in the South End neighborhood. It then turns to the west as a narrower four-lane street, running through Mission Hill and terminating at Brigham Circle, where it intersects Huntington Avenue.

The street is unique among streets in Boston in that the name zigzags across several physical streets, much like Francis Lewis Boulevard in New York City does.

Landmarks

Tremont Street in front of King's Chapel

Sites of interest along Tremont Street, from northeast to southwest, include:

Transportation links

The Tremont Street Subway runs underneath the street. Opened in 1897, it was the first subway tunnel in North America and still carries the MBTA Green Line.

The Green Line stops in three places under Tremont Street:

Gallery

Intersection of Tremont and School Street (Boston Common at upper left), 1722
Map showing a British tactical evaluation of Boston in 1775. It shows a street called "Treamount Street" near School Street north of Common Street on the northeastern corner of the Boston Common
Tremont St., 1798
Faneuil mansion, c. 19th century
Tremont St., c. 1843, by Philip Harry
Gleason's Publishing Hall, corner of Tremont and Bromfield St., 1851
Advertisement for Chas. E. Brewster's Natural History Store, 1861
Horticultural Hall, 19th century, photo by John P. Soule
Tremont St., 1891
Intersection of Tremont St., Pleasant St., and Shawmut Ave., 1896

References

Notes

^ "MHC Reconnaissance Survey Town Report: Boston" (PDF). Massachusetts Historical Commission. January 1981. Retrieved 2009-08-23.
^ Page, Sir Thomas Hyde, "A plan of the town of Boston with the intrenchments &ca. of His Majesty's forces in 1775, from the observations of Lieut. Page of His Majesty's Corps of Engineers, and from those of other gentlemen." Source: Library of Congress

Further reading

"Tremont Street". Gleasons Pictorial. 5. Boston, Mass. 1853.
Views of Tremont Street, Boston. Bulletin of the Boston Public Library, 1894.
City of Boston, Landmarks Commission. Connolly's Bar Study Report, 1997

External links

"Tremont Street in the Rain, Boston, Massachusetts, undated". Historic New England. Photographer: Unknown
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2007661063
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2007661071
Flickr. Photo of elevated railroad on Tremont St. at Granary, c. early 20th century. Includes view of Horticultural Hall. Courtesy of Bostonian Society.

Template:Boston Road Transportation

[1] "MHC Reconnaissance Survey Town Report: Boston" (PDF). Massachusetts Historical Commission. January 1981. Retrieved 2009-08-23.

[2] Page, Sir Thomas Hyde, "A plan of the town of Boston with the intrenchments &ca. of His Majesty's forces in 1775, from the observations of Lieut. Page of His Majesty's Corps of Engineers, and from those of other gentlemen." Source: Library of Congress

[1]

[2]

v t e Streets and squares in Boston
East–west streets	Beacon Street Boylston Street Commonwealth Avenue Congress Street Court Street Day Boulevard Dedham Parkway Fenway Gallivan Boulevard Huntington Avenue Melnea Cass Boulevard Milk Street Neptune Road New Chardon Street Newbury Street Park Street Soldiers Field Road State Street Storrow Drive Summer Street Tremont Street Winter Street
North–south streets	Arborway Atlantic Avenue Blue Hills Parkway Bowdoin Street Brattle Street Brookline Avenue Charles Street Columbus Avenue Dorchester Avenue Enneking Parkway Federal Street Franklin Street Hanover Street Jamaicaway Jersey Street (Yawkey Way) Massachusetts Avenue Morrissey Boulevard Morton Street North Street Park Drive Riverway School Street Truman Parkway Turtle Pond Parkway Union Street Veterans of Foreign Wars Parkway Washington Street West Boundary Road West Roxbury Parkway
Intersections	Adams Square Andrew Square Blackstone Square Brigham Circle Central Square Chester Square City Square Cleveland Circle Codman Square Copley Square Day Square Dewey Square Dock Square Downtown Crossing Egleston Square Fields Corner Franklin Square Haymarket Square Hyde Square Jackson Square Kenmore Square Louisburg Square Mass and Cass Maverick Square Nubian Square (Dudley Square) Packard's Corner Park Square Peabody Square Post Office Square Roxbury Crossing Scollay Square Sullivan Square Thompson Square Union Square Uphams Corner Winthrop Square
Italics denote streets and squares that no longer exist. See also Neighborhoods in Boston Transportation in Boston