Wellesley Farms is an

MBTA Commuter Rail The MBTA Commuter Rail system serves as the commuter rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's transportation coverage of Greater Boston in the United States. Trains run over of track to 141 different stations, with 58 statio ...

station in

Wellesley, Massachusetts Wellesley () is a New England town, town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Wellesley is part of Greater Boston. The population was 29,550 at the time of the 2020 census. Wellesley College, Babson Col ...

. It serves the

Framingham/Worcester Line The Framingham/Worcester Line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system runs west from Boston, Massachusetts to Worcester, Massachusetts through the MetroWest region, serving 17 station stops in Boston, Newton, Wellesley, Natick, Framingham, Ashland, ...

. It is located in the Wellesley Farms area. The current station building, designed by

Henry Hobson Richardson Henry Hobson Richardson, FAIA (September 29, 1838 – April 27, 1886) was an American architect, best known for his work in a style that became known as Richardsonian Romanesque. Along with Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, Richardson is one ...

in 1886 and constructed in 1890, has been listed on the U.S.

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 ...

as Wellesley Farms Railroad Station since 1986.

History

The

Boston & Worcester 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 ...

(B&W), extending outwards from Boston, reached through the West Parish of Needham in mid-1834. Rice's Crossing station opened as a

flag stop In public transport, a request stop, flag stop, or whistle stop is a stop or station at which buses or trains, respectively, stop only on request; that is, only if there are passengers or freight to be picked up or dropped off. In this way, st ...

north of Glen Road soon afterward. In 1839, the line was double tracked through the area. Wellesley Farms station, which was designed by

prior to his death in 1886, opened south of Glen Road to replace Rice's Crossing in 1890. Like many B&A stations, it had attractive landscaping;

Charles Mulford Robinson Charles Mulford Robinson (1869–1917) was a journalist and a writer who became famous as a pioneering urban planning theorist. He has the greatest influence as a missionary for urban beautification. He was the first Professor for Civic Design at U ...

called it "unique, and to be remembered" in 1904. The station was added to the

in 1986. In July 2004, the MBTA closed a paved crossing between the crossings in response to concerns about safety. Similar crossings exist at some other MBTA stations, but the agency's policy is to eliminate grade crossings whenever possible when building or renovating stations. In June 2021, the MBTA issued a $28 million design contract for a project to add a third track from Weston to Framingham, including reconstruction of the three Wellesley stations and West Natick station. The project was expected to cost around $400 million, of which rebuilding Wellesley Farms station would be $34 million, with completion in 2030.

References

External links

MBTA - Wellesley Farms
*Google Maps Street View
Croton Street entranceGlen Road entranceHundreds Road entrance
MBTA Commuter Rail stations in Norfolk County, Massachusetts Railway stations in the United States opened in 1890 Former Boston and Albany Railroad stations Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Wellesley, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Norfolk County, Massachusetts {{NorfolkCountyMA-NRHP-stub