Hammond Pond Parkway on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Hammond Pond Parkway is a historic parkway in
The roadway is generally four lanes of paved asphalt. From its northern end at Beacon Street, it runs for roughly two-thirds of a mile with no intersections while passing through a conservation area consisting of the
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Chestnut Hill is an affluent New England village located west of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Like all Massachusetts villages, Chestnut Hill is located within one or more incorporated municipal entities. It is located partia ...
. The road, built in 1932, extends from Hobart Road (at Beacon Street) in Newton to Horace James Circle in Brookline, where it joins the West Roxbury Parkway
West Roxbury Parkway is a historic parkway running from Washington Street in Boston, Massachusetts, where the Enneking Parkway runs south, to Horace James Circle in Brookline, where it meets the Hammond Pond Parkway. The parkway serves as a ...
. It was designed by Charles Eliot and the Olmsted Brothers to provide a parkway setting that provided access from Brookline, Newton, and the western portions of Boston to the southern parks of the Emerald Necklace
The Emerald Necklace consists of a chain of parks linked by parkways and waterways in Boston and Brookline, Massachusetts. It was designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, and gets its name from the way the planned chain appears ...
. The parkway was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 2004.
Route description
The roadway is generally four lanes of paved asphalt. From its northern end at Beacon Street, it runs for roughly two-thirds of a mile with no intersections while passing through a conservation area consisting of the Hammond Pond Reservation
Hammond Pond Reservation is a protected woodland park in Newton, Massachusetts. It features Hammond Pond, fishing and hiking trails as well as formations of sandstone conglomerate and Roxbury puddingstone which are popular for rock climbing.
The r ...
and the Webster Conservation Area,. It crosses the MBTA
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...
Green Line D branch
The Green Line D branch (also referred to as the Highland branch or Riverside Line) is a light rail line in Newton, Brookline, and Boston, Massachusetts, operating as part of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line. The ...
, formerly the Highland branch of the Boston and Albany Railroad
The Boston and Albany Railroad was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Albany, New York, later becoming part of the New York Central Railroad system, Conrail, and CSX Transportation. The line is currently used by CSX for freight. Pass ...
, along the way, and has at grade intersections for Boston College
Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...
's Robstein Art Center, The Shops at Chestnut Hill
The Shops at Chestnut Hill is a two-level enclosed shopping mall, located in the Chestnut Hill section of Newton, Massachusetts on Boylston Street ( Route 9).
As of 2022, the mall currently features two Bloomingdales, as well as prominent brand ...
and The Street Chestnut Hill before reaching an interchange with Massachusetts Route 9 at roughly its midpoint.
To the south of the malls, apartment and condominium buildings are on both sides. Farther to the south, the east side of the parkway has a residential area of larger homes with expansive lawns, while the west side is adjacent to the DCR Lost Pond Reservation and the Town of Brookline's Skyline Park. The parkway ends at Horace James Circle, a junction with the West Roxbury Parkway, Newton Street, LaGrange Street, and Hammond Street.
History
Land acquisition for the parkway began in 1914 based on designs that were drafted in 1913. Additional land was acquired in 1920, and again in 1930-31. The northern section, between Beacon Street and Route 9, was built in 1931, and the southern section was completed in 1932. Construction was by the M. McDonough Company, and cost over $216,000. Only minor changes have been made to the parkway since its construction. The parkway construction included two significant bridges: the Route 9 overpass, and the bridge which passes over the railroad tracks. In 2021, the Department of Conservation and Recreation proposed to redesign the portion of the parkway north of Route 9. The redesigned parkway would have just one traffic lane in each direction. A 12-foot-wide shared-use lane for bicycles and pedestrians would be built on the west side of the roadway, separated from the traffic lanes by a landscaped median.Major intersections
See also
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Newton, MassachusettsReferences
{{Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston Roads on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Parkways in Massachusetts Transportation in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Transportation in Norfolk County, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Newton, Massachusetts Historic districts in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Historic districts in Norfolk County, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Brookline, Massachusetts Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts