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Editor: Kevin Walsh
Photographer:
Sean Colby
Writer: Sean Colby
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ABOVE TWO: This former exit at the end of the Inbound platform at Hynes Convention Center/ICA is now closed but still functions as an emergency exit. Note the advertisement cutouts in the walls.
This abandoned stairway once led into Science Park Station on the Green Line. The station is just beyond the wall at the top of the stairs.
ABANDONED/UNMODERNIZED ORANGE LINE ENTRANCES
The Orange Line as it is today began as the Main Line EL, and was elevated from Forest Hills in Jamaica Plain to Dover Station in the South End, and from North Station in Boston to Everett Station in Everett. When it was first constructed, the elevated shared the Tremont Street tunnels with trolleys to pass under Boston, but in 1908 the Washington Street tunnel was constructed, and is still in use today. The four stations in the tunnel are Chinatown, Downtown Crossing, State Street, and Haymarket.
Chinatown Station was once named Boylston on the southbound side and Essex on the northbound side (as different sides of each station in the tunnel had a different name to coincide with a nearby street), and was changed to Essex in 1967 before ultimately becoming Chinatown in 1987. Chinatown has many older entrances that were once opened but closed at various times for different reasons.
This exit from Essex Station is now covered over on Hayward Place, and it is unknown whether or not the stairs still exist.
Near this is a former Essex entrance on Washington Street. Until a few years ago, you could still seen down the stairs, but it was eventually blocked off by doors over and painted. This stairway still remains as a standpipe location and emergency exit.
This "IN" sign is still above the door to this former entrance. "IN" and "OUT" were commonly placed above the doors to keep order and or avoid confusion.
A picture through the iron above the door shows the "Essex" sign.
Looking through an opening next to a standpipe, you can still see the unmodernized stairway and another Essex sign.
This abandoned entrance to Essex Station is on Lagrange Street, and also remains intact as an emergency exit. Looking through a small opening next to the standpipe on the left, one sees....
This very old sign. Based on the information on the sign and a picture in the book "When Boston rode the EL" by Frank Cheney and Anthony Mitchell Sammarco, this sign is most likely from the original opening of the Washington Street Tunnel in 1908. The Essex on the top was most likely added after the name change in 1967, and probably says "Boylston" underneath as this was a southbound entrance. This sign is very much intact and in good condition for its age (close to 97 years old).
A view of the stairway shows that it is unmodernized but also in very good condition.
Another entrance/exit on Essex Street is a standpipe location, but probably nothing else, based on the iron gates.
This exit from Downtown Crossing station on Temple Place still has its old iron "IN" and "OUT" signs and an old lighted signbox.
