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Huntington Avenue
Major junctions
West end	Route 9 Washington St.
Major intersections	Massachusetts Avenue I-90 Massachusetts Turnpike
East end	Route 9 Dartmouth St.
Location
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
Highway system
Massachusetts State Highway System Interstate US State

Huntington Avenue is a thoroughfare in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, beginning at Copley Square and continuing west through the Back Bay, Fenway, Longwood, and Mission Hill neighborhoods. It is signed as Massachusetts Route 9 (formerly Route C9). A section of Huntington Avenue has been officially designated the Avenue of the Arts by the city of Boston.

Description

In the Back Bay neighborhood, the avenue is primarily dominated by the Mother Church and headquarters of the Church of Christ, Scientist, and the buildings of the Prudential Center shopping and office complex.

The middle portion of Huntington Avenue designated the "Avenue of the Arts" is lined by many significant artistic venues and educational institutions in Boston, including Symphony Hall, Horticultural Hall, the New England Conservatory, Northeastern University, the Huntington Avenue Theatre (Huntington Theatre Company's mainstage), the Museum of Fine Arts, Wentworth Institute of Technology, and the Massachusetts College of Art.

Near the Longwood Medical Area, the street touches upon a number of medical research institutions and hospital complexes, including the Harvard Medical School, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

At the point at which the street reaches the overpass of the Jamaicaway and the border of the town of Brookline, South Huntington Avenue runs south towards Jamaica Plain, while Route 9 continues west into Brookline as Washington Street briefly, then Boylston Street.

Public transportation

The E branch of the MBTA Green Line roughly follows Huntington Avenue underground from Copley Square until it rises above ground at the Northeastern portal. It then operates in a dedicated median of Huntington Avenue between Northeastern University and the Brigham Circle stop, where trains begin street running in mixed traffic to a terminus at Heath Street.

The MBTA #39 bus runs from Back Bay station via Huntington Avenue following the streetcar line, and traveling beyond Heath Street to Forest Hills station. The bus route is considered one of the key bus routes in the system, with high ridership and enhanced levels of service.

History

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2008)

Huntington Avenue began in Art Square (now Copley Square) and wended its way toward Brookline. By 1883, the square that had been named for the adjacent (and later relocated) Museum of Fine Arts was renamed Copley Square. The avenue originally began at the intersection of Clarendon and Boylston Streets, and ran diagonally across the square past Trinity Church. In the 1960s this stretch was eliminated as part of a redesign of the square, and now the avenue originates from the intersection of Dartmouth Street and St. James Avenue.

The street had originally been called Western Avenue, and was later renamed after Ralph Huntington (1784–1866). Huntington was one of the men who moved to have the Back Bay filled in. He donated money to many of the institutions in the Back Bay, and later the Fenway.

An existing system of horse-drawn streetcar lines was extended onto Huntington Avenue around 1883, running in a dedicated median from Francis Street to the Boston Public Library. From there it ran in general street traffic until turning onto Boylston Street. In 1894, the streetcar line was electrified. On February 16, 1941, the Tremont Street Subway (which in 1914 had already been extended for other lines running through Copley Square) opened a streetcar portal on Huntington Ave near Northeastern University. This allowed streetcars to avoid surface traffic from Copley to Northeastern, and created two new subway stops: Symphony and Mechanics (now Prudential).

Huntington Avenue, near Northeastern University, was the site of the old Boston Red Sox stadium and site of the first World Series game in 1903. A statue of Cy Young stands on the current day Northeastern campus to commemorate the location of the pitcher's mound of the Huntington Avenue Grounds ballpark.

Gallery

• Mechanics' Hall, 1881
• Huntington Ave (at left), at Copley Square, 1889
• Huntington Ave, 1920
• Horticultural Hall, at corner of Huntington and Massachusetts Ave, 1920
• 20th century overview of Huntington Ave in the vicinity of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
• Raised crosswalk in front of the New England Conservatory of Music, 2008

See also

• Boston YMCA
• Brigham Circle
• Copley Square
• First Church of Christ, Scientist
• Harvard School of Public Health
• Horticultural Hall, Boston, Massachusetts
• Huntington Theatre Company
• Jordan Hall
• Longwood Medical and Academic Area
• Massachusetts College of Art and Design
• Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
• Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
• New England Conservatory
• Northeastern University
• Wentworth Institute of Technology

Demolished buildings

• Boston Opera House
• Chickering Hall, Boston
• Original buildings of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were located at the Copley Square origin of Huntington Avenue
• Mechanics' Hall (1881–1959) built by Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association
• Original building of the Museum of Fine Arts was located in Copley Square
• New England Manufacturers' and Mechanics' Institute (1880s)
• St. James Theatre, Boston

References

1. "Street Book - City of Boston". Cityofboston.gov. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
2. Holleman, Joe. "A statue of Cy Young on the campus of Northeastern University". stltoday.com. Retrieved 2018-02-05.

External links

• City of Boston Archives. Electric street lights on Huntington Avenue, c. 1910

Browse numbered routes
← Route 9		→ Route 10

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 North 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

• Streets in Boston
• Northeastern University