William J. Day Boulevard, or Day Boulevard, is a coastal parkway in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
. Beginning at
Morrissey Boulevard
Morrissey Boulevard is a six-lane divided coastal road in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is owned and maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).
Route description
A parkway, M ...
and Kosciuszko Circle at the northern extent of the
Dorchester section of the city, it travels in a gently curving northeasterly direction through
South Boston
South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. South Boston, colloquially known as Southie, has undergone several demographic transformati ...
along beaches around the west and north shore of
Dorchester Bay. It was named for
William J. Day.
In its eastern part, the road passes through the
South Boston Boat Clubs Historic District and Marine Park before ending at
Castle Island, site of a historic fort and state park.
[Office of Geographic and Environmental Information (MassGIS), Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs - http://www.mass.gov/mgis/dd-over.htm] It is owned and maintained by the
Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is a state agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, situated in the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. It is best known for its parks and parkways. The DCR's mission is ...
as part of the
Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston
The Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston is a system of reservations, parks, parkways and roads under the control of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) in and around Boston that has been in existence for over a ...
.
Carson Beach, M Street Beach and Pleasure Bay are beaches along Day Boulevard that are part of the park system.
History
Day Boulevard was originally called the Strandway,
and was planned beginning in the late nineteenth century as the easternmost link 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 string of connected parks and waterways created by
Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co- ...
.
[Heart of the City Project, Center for Urban and Regional Policy, Harvard University and Northeastern University](_blank)
Plans for the connection of
Franklin Park across Dorchester via a parkway to be called
Dorchesterway
The Dorchesterway was a parkway planned by 19th century landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted to be a continuation of the Emerald Necklace park network in Boston, Massachusetts. This plan, however, was never implemented.
History Olmsted's vis ...
to South Boston and Marine Park at the east end of the South Boston peninsula via the Strandway were not realized, and the route was eventually called Columbia Road.
The southern roadway of the two roadways that formed Columbia Road was named William J. Day Boulevard in honor of a popular South Boston political figure after he died in 1950.
William Day was the father of
Louise Day Hicks
Anna Louise Day Hicks (October 16, 1916 – October 21, 2003) was an American politician and lawyer from Boston, Massachusetts, best known for her staunch opposition to desegregation in Boston public schools, and especially to court-ordered b ...
, U.S. Representative for South Boston from 1971–73.
Day Boulevard is 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 ...
as part of the
Old Harbor Reservation Parkways
The Old Harbor Reservation Parkways are three historic roads in the Old Harbor area of Boston. They are part of the Boston parkway system designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. They include
*all of William J. Day Boulevard, running from Castle Isl ...
.
References
{{Streets and squares in Boston
Parkways in Massachusetts
Streets in Boston
Roads on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Boston
Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts