Tremont Street Subway - wikipedia Tremont Street Subway This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. ( March 2013 ) Tremont Street Subway U.S. National Register of Historic Places U.S. National Historic Landmark A flying junction on the now - abandoned southern branch of the Tremont Street Subway, south of Boylston station, approaching the Pleasant Street Incline ( 1898 photo ) Show map of Boston Show map of Massachusetts Show map of the US Show all Location Boston, Massachusetts Coordinates 42 ° 21 ′ 23 '' N 71 ° 3 ′ 47 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 42.35639 ° N 71.06306 ° W ﻿ / 42.35639 ; - 71.06306 Coordinates : 42 ° 21 ′ 23 '' N 71 ° 3 ′ 47 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 42.35639 ° N 71.06306 ° W ﻿ / 42.35639 ; - 71.06306 Built 1897 Architect Carsen, Howard A. Architectural style Classical Revival NRHP reference # 66000788 Significant dates Added to NRHP October 15, 1966 ; 51 years ago ( 1966 - 10 - 15 ) Designated NHL January 29, 1964 ; 53 years ago ( 1964 - 01 - 29 ) A map showing the extent of the Tremont Street Subway over time. The Tremont Street Subway in Boston 's MBTA Subway system is the oldest subway tunnel in North America and the third oldest worldwide to exclusively use electric traction ( after the City and South London Railway in 1890, and the Budapest Metro 's Line 1 in 1896 ), opening on September 1, 1897. It was originally built to get streetcar lines off the traffic - clogged streets, instead of as a true rapid transit line. It now forms the central part of the Green Line, connecting Boylston Street to Park Street and Government Center stations. The tunnel originally served five closely spaced stations : Boylston, Park Street, Scollay Square, Adams Square, and Haymarket, with branches to the Public Garden Portal and Pleasant Street Incline south of Boylston. Park Street, Scollay Square, and Haymarket stations were altered over the next two decades as transfers were added to the Cambridge - Dorchester Subway, East Boston Tunnel, and Main Line Elevated ( now part of the Red, Blue, and Orange Lines, respectively ). In 1962, the southern portal at Pleasant Street was closed ; the following year, the northern half of the tunnel was substantially altered when Government Center and a new Boston City Hall replaced Scollay Square and Adams Square. The northbound tunnel to Haymarket station was rerouted ; the southbound tunnel is still original. Scollay Square station was rebuilt as Government Center, and Adams Square station was closed. In 1971, the original Haymarket station was replaced with a new station just to the south. Contents 1 Disused southern tunnel branch 2 Portals 3 Power 4 Landmark status and ownership 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links Disused southern tunnel branch Main article : Pleasant Street Incline The now - unused southern portion of the Tremont Street Subway, looking north towards Boylston -- the outbound track 's lower elevation takes it under the Boylston Street Subway 's tracks. The subway in 1897 consisted of a main line under Tremont Street that terminated at Park Street, and two forks to the south. One fork has remained the extant part of the line, which veered westward along Boylston Street, toward the main - line Arlington station, as well as towards Back Bay. The other fork continued south under Tremont Street to the Pleasant Street Incline ( the tunnel to which is depicted in the top right photo ). This portal was used by streetcars that went southwest to Egleston via the South End, along Tremont Street ( route 43 ), or southeast to City Point in South Boston via Broadway ( route 9 ). Streetcar service through the southern portal ended in 1961 ; for the last several months, service consisted of a shuttle between the portal and Boylston station. The tunnel still exists, dead - ended at the now - buried portal, which has been converted to a public park. Portals The three original tunnel entrances were in the Boston Public Garden, at North Station / Canal Street, and at Pleasant Street. Over time, these portals were replaced and abandoned as the subway was extended. Vestiges of various closed portals are still visible inside the main Green Line 's Boylston Street Subway tunnel extending west of Boylston station towards Kenmore Square station. The western Public Garden portal was replaced in 1914 with two portals, one in the middle of Boylston Street adjacent to the old portal, and the other at the west end of the Boylston Street Subway, just east of Kenmore Square. The Boylston Street portal was sealed in 1941 when the Huntington Avenue Subway was opened ( with a new portal at Northeastern University ). The portal at Kenmore Square was replaced in 1932 when the subway was extended west beyond the Square, to the existing portals on Commonwealth Avenue ( the `` B '' branch ) and Beacon Street ( the `` C '' branch ), although the top arch of the original portal survives as part of a ventilation shaft. The Fenway portal for the `` D '' branch was opened in 1959. The northern portal at Canal Street was replaced in 2004 when the subway was extended beneath North Station to a new portal next to Martha Road. The southern portal at Pleasant Street was abandoned in 1962 following the end of streetcar service through the South End. The portal has since been sealed up and covered by Elliot Norton Park, but the dead - ended tunnel to Boylston survives underground. Power The subway uses trolleys powered by electricity from overhead lines, which had been made possible by the invention of the trolley pole in 1880 by Frank J. Sprague, from his design for the Richmond Union Passenger Railway. The line has been pantograph - only since the trolley wires were modified in the 1990s. Landmark status and ownership The Tremont Street Subway was designated a National Historic Landmark in recognition for its pioneering role in the development of the subway as a public transit system in the United States. The landmark designation encompasses the still - extant portions of the early tunnel, roughly from Court Street to Charles Street, and includes the original Classical Revival head houses of the Park and Boylston stations which are still in use. The original owner of the Tremont Street Subway was the private West End Street Railway, later the Boston Elevated Railway. Public ownership began in 1947 with the Metropolitan Transit Authority, now the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. See also List of National Historic Landmarks in Boston National Register of Historic Places listings in northern Boston, Massachusetts References Jump up ^ National Park Service ( 2007 - 01 - 23 ). `` National Register Information System ''. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Jump up ^ The Boston Daily Globe, `` First Car off the Earth : Allston Electric Goes into the subway on schedule time. '', The Boston Daily Globe, September 1, 1897. Experiences of the first Subway Riders in Boston. Jump up ^ Most, Doug ( 26 January 2014 ). `` The bigger dig ''. Boston Globe. Retrieved 22 January 2016. ^ Jump up to : Belcher, Jonathan ( 26 December 2015 ). `` Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district 1964 - 2015 '' ( PDF ). NETransit. Retrieved 22 January 2016. Jump up ^ `` Boston Transit Milestones '', MIT course, 2002 ( archived 2007 ) Jump up ^ `` NHL nomination for Tremont Street Subway '' ( PDF ). National Park Service. Retrieved 2014 - 06 - 06. Further reading Bierman, Noah, `` Transit archeology : Tour of abandoned subway network offers a glimpse of how the T was built '', Boston Globe, Saturday, December 26, 2009. Moore, Scott, `` 100 Years of the Tremont Street Subway '' ( archived 2007 ) External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tremont Street Subway. Celebrate Boston 's description and image gallery of the Tremont Street Subway Photos and discussion of the Tremont Street subway tunnel Photos of the Tremont Street subway Google Books ' online reprint of the Mid-August 1898 report on the Tremont Street Subway Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Subway lines ( List of stations ) Heavy rail Blue Orange Red Light rail Green `` B '' Branch `` C '' Branch `` D '' Branch `` E '' Branch Ashmont -- Mattapan Former lines Arborway Line Atlantic Avenue Elevated Causeway Street Elevated Charlestown Elevated Green Line `` A '' Branch Washington Street Elevated Commuter Rail lines ( List of stations ) North Station lines Fitchburg Haverhill ( Wildcat Branch ) Lowell Newburyport / Rockport South Station lines Fairmount Framingham / Worcester Franklin Greenbush Needham Old Colony ( Kingston / Plymouth Middleborough / Lakeville CapeFLYER ) Providence / Stoughton Former lines Central Mass Branch Dedham Branch Lexington Branch Millis Branch Woburn Branch Bus routes ( List of routes ) Silver Line Crosstown routes Key routes Trackless trolleys Routes East Boston, Chelsea, Revere Melrose, Reading, Stoneham, Wakefield South Boston Other services Boat The Ride Component parts of system lines Boylston Street Subway Haymarket North Extension Lechmere Viaduct Tremont Street Subway Capital projects Under construction Blue Hill Avenue station Forest Hills modifications Green Line Extension Haverhill Line upgrades Silver Line Gateway / Chelsea station Ruggles modifications In planning / proposed Buzzards Bay extension Foxboro service Hynes Convention Center renovation Kingston R.I. extension Nashua extension North -- South Rail Link Quincy Center garage replacement Route 16 extension South Coast Rail South Salem station Wollaston renovation Framingham / Worcester Line upgrades Formerly proposed Arborway Line restoration Indigo Line ( Fairmount Grand Junction Track 61 ) Lexington extension Plaistow extension Reading extension Red Line -- Blue Line Connector Milford / Hopedale extension Lynn extension Urban Ring Project History Predecessor companies Boston Elevated Railway Streetcar lines Boston and Maine Railroad Conrail New York Central Railroad New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Penn Central Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway Middlesex and Boston Street Railway Newton and Boston Street Railway Accidents and incidents 1990 Back Bay 2008 Waban / Woodland Other Accessibility Arts on the Line Bicycling CharlieCard Grand Junction Railroad `` Charlie on the M.T.A. '' Nomenclature Police Winter Street Concourse Yards and maintenance facilities U.S. National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Topics Contributing property Keeper of the Register Historic district History of the National Register of Historic Places National Park Service Property types Lists by county Barnstable Berkshire Bristol Dukes Essex Franklin Hampden Hampshire Middlesex Nantucket Norfolk Plymouth Suffolk Worcester ( northern ) Lists by city Barnstable County Barnstable Harwich Bristol County Fall River New Bedford Taunton Essex County Andover Gloucester Ipswich Lawrence Lynn Methuen Salem Hampden County Springfield Middlesex County Arlington Cambridge Concord Framingham Lexington Lowell Marlborough Medford Newton Reading Sherborn Somerville Stoneham Wakefield Waltham Weston Winchester Norfolk County Brookline Milton Quincy Suffolk County Boston northern southern Worcester County Southbridge Uxbridge Worcester eastern northwestern southwestern Other lists Bridges Cape Cod National Seashore National Historic Landmarks Boston NRHP portal Massachusetts portal Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tremont_Street_Subway&oldid=804685329 '' Categories : Green Line ( MBTA ) National Historic Landmarks in Boston Buildings and structures in Boston Railway buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Railroad tunnels in Massachusetts Tunnels completed in 1897 National Register of Historic Places in Boston Hidden categories : Articles lacking in - text citations from March 2013 All articles lacking in - text citations Wikipedia page with obscure country or subdivision Coordinates on Wikidata All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from January 2009 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Edit links This page was last edited on 10 October 2017, at 14 : 32. 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Question: what is the oldest subway system in the us
Answer: Tremont Street Subway