Better MBTA Station Names
- Thread starter Smuttynose
- Start date
That might be part of the reason why they are trying to get away from naming things from buildings/places since the name could change.
Newbury/Esplanade or Newbury/Berklee don't seem too fitting for the current Prudential stop, Berklee is just as close to the Symphony and Hynes stops as it is to the Prudential stop and the Esplanade (and Newbury, for that matter) is closer to many more stops on the GL than the Prudential.
I realize in the great expanse of challenges facing the MBTA that its station names probably does not rank particularly high, but some of the names have always bugged me. For example, 'Community College' on the Orange Line. Yes, there's a community college near the station. But there's a bunch of community colleges in the metro. What information does 'Community College' convey besides that there's a random college nearby? Wouldn't 'Bunker Hill' work better, which would apply to both the community college and the greater neighborhood around it? The same is true for 'Courthouse' -- wouldn't Fort Point or Fan Pier or some variation work better? The Silver Line station names are especially terrible -- Silver Line Way!? It's weird that we have a station named for the small convention center we want to sell but not the BCEC. Is the World Trade Center still even in existence? Does it make sense to have an Airport station on the Blue Line when the SL serves it much more directly?
Courthouse (SL) = Fort Point/Fan Pier
Community College (OL) = Bunker Hill
Aquarium (BL) = Long Wharf
World Trade Center (SL) = Commonwealth Pier/Convention Center
Silver Line Way (!) (SL) = Liberty Wharf, Fish Pier, Marine Center, literally anything besides Silver Line Way
Hynes (GL) = Maybe Prudential and rename Prudential the Christian Science Center or something like Newbury/Esplanade or Newbury/Berklee
This thread is for bad MBTA station names and suggestions for better ones.
Rename Mass Ave to Matthews maybe, in honor of Matthews Arena (original home to the Bruins and Celtics). That way, Mass Ave is cleared up to be used in renaming Hynes.
EDIT: Seems as if @bigeman312 had the same idea as me.
Smuttynose
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I was arguing to rename the existing Prudential stop on the GL and call it something else so that Hynes could be renamed Prudential. Alternatively the Hynes station could be called Newbury/Esplanade or Newbury/Berklee.
The EGE
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Hynes is 1,500 feet from the Esplanade; something with Newbury or Berklee is definitely better.
I don't think having Mass Ave stations on both OL and SL is a big deal; neither is ambiguous when you're on that line, and Mass Ave is an extremely recognizable thoroughfare. Systems like NYC and Chicago do fine with such duplicates. For the same reason, I don't think Green is an issue.
I don't think having Mass Ave stations on both OL and SL is a big deal; neither is ambiguous when you're on that line, and Mass Ave is an extremely recognizable thoroughfare. Systems like NYC and Chicago do fine with such duplicates. For the same reason, I don't think Green is an issue.
So, this is a blog post I've been ruminating on for about a year. I've wanted to expand it into something more first, but never quite have gotten it where I want it to be. So consider this a WIP. With that in mind...
~~~
A lot of the debate around renaming things in America has centered on what we might call de-naming things named after people we no longer wish to valorize. This is definitely important, particularly in terms of de-naming relics of the Confederacy.
But there is another side to this: as a society, we are increasingly conscious of the unsung heroes of our history. Renaming gives us the opportunity to elevate the memories of these people, and thereby bring them back into the daily lived experiences of our communities -- bake them into the fabric of the city itself.
Renaming to celebrate people we have forgotten does not need to come at the expense of the heroes we currently laud. There are ample places across the region that have become major centers of community, with names that are now long divorced from our memory of the individuals. These places offer opportunities to widen our circle of memory, and enrich our city with a wider understanding of its own history.
I'll offer three examples: Lechmere, Ruggles, and Maverick. Before I go into their history, I invite you to ask yourself, "Do I know where these names come from?" (And don't cheat and say the Lechmere Company! Like the station, it was named for Lechmere Square -- but who or what is "Lechmere"?)
Lechmere: Richard Lechmere was a Loyalist slaveowner (likely involved in plantations in the West Indies and the slave trade) who housed British troops in his distillery during the occupation and then left Massachusetts in 1776 for Britain by way of Nova Scotia and never returned. Lechmere Point -- so named for sitting on land that he owned -- was where the British troops landed on their way to Lexington and Concord
Ruggles: Timothy Ruggles was also a Loyalist who, like Lechmere, absconded from Massachusetts before the Revolutionary War
Maverick: Samuel Maverick was one of the region's first slaveowners
To be clear, I am not saying that these stations should be renamed simply because their namesakes were Loyalists and/or slaveowners. (Although, yeah, the stories about Lechmere and Maverick are particularly grotesque.)
What I am saying: there are many people in our history whom we actively wish to celebrate, many of whom doubtless could merit having a square or subway station named after them. If we therefore were to look for places that cold be considered "available" for renaming, I submit that the above three would be strong candidates. Not to say that they weren't important parts of our history, but to acknowledge that there are other people who we would now consider more important parts of our history, and who are overdue for recognition.
There are other examples of station names which have less-than-illustrious origins which could also be considered "available": Wollaston is named after a pirate who arrived in Plymouth in 1624, couldn't get along with the Puritans, so traveled up the coast with 30 indentured to what is now Merrymount (i.e. nowhere near the current Wollaston neighborhood) in 1625 before dying the following year; Charles/MGH is named for Charles St which is presumably named for the Charles River which was named... by a then-14-year-old British prince who named it after himself; Suffolk Downs is of course a defunct race track and Wood Island is a defunct amusement park.
Again, I'm not saying that any of those stations should be renamed, but rather that they could be potential options if we identify historical figures we wish to celebrate.
Those stations make an interesting comparison to others, named after figures whose accomplishments are still laudable or positive today, including: Andrew, named after a radical abolitionist; the origin of the name "Jackson Square" is unclear but may have been named after a Revolutionary War general and subsequent elder statesman; and Green Street, which appears to have been simply named for the residents who lived on the street when it was built (one of whom is described as a "gardener and picture frame maker").
~~~
A lot of the debate around renaming things in America has centered on what we might call de-naming things named after people we no longer wish to valorize. This is definitely important, particularly in terms of de-naming relics of the Confederacy.
But there is another side to this: as a society, we are increasingly conscious of the unsung heroes of our history. Renaming gives us the opportunity to elevate the memories of these people, and thereby bring them back into the daily lived experiences of our communities -- bake them into the fabric of the city itself.
Renaming to celebrate people we have forgotten does not need to come at the expense of the heroes we currently laud. There are ample places across the region that have become major centers of community, with names that are now long divorced from our memory of the individuals. These places offer opportunities to widen our circle of memory, and enrich our city with a wider understanding of its own history.
I'll offer three examples: Lechmere, Ruggles, and Maverick. Before I go into their history, I invite you to ask yourself, "Do I know where these names come from?" (And don't cheat and say the Lechmere Company! Like the station, it was named for Lechmere Square -- but who or what is "Lechmere"?)
Lechmere: Richard Lechmere was a Loyalist slaveowner (likely involved in plantations in the West Indies and the slave trade) who housed British troops in his distillery during the occupation and then left Massachusetts in 1776 for Britain by way of Nova Scotia and never returned. Lechmere Point -- so named for sitting on land that he owned -- was where the British troops landed on their way to Lexington and Concord
Ruggles: Timothy Ruggles was also a Loyalist who, like Lechmere, absconded from Massachusetts before the Revolutionary War
Maverick: Samuel Maverick was one of the region's first slaveowners
To be clear, I am not saying that these stations should be renamed simply because their namesakes were Loyalists and/or slaveowners. (Although, yeah, the stories about Lechmere and Maverick are particularly grotesque.)
What I am saying: there are many people in our history whom we actively wish to celebrate, many of whom doubtless could merit having a square or subway station named after them. If we therefore were to look for places that cold be considered "available" for renaming, I submit that the above three would be strong candidates. Not to say that they weren't important parts of our history, but to acknowledge that there are other people who we would now consider more important parts of our history, and who are overdue for recognition.
There are other examples of station names which have less-than-illustrious origins which could also be considered "available": Wollaston is named after a pirate who arrived in Plymouth in 1624, couldn't get along with the Puritans, so traveled up the coast with 30 indentured to what is now Merrymount (i.e. nowhere near the current Wollaston neighborhood) in 1625 before dying the following year; Charles/MGH is named for Charles St which is presumably named for the Charles River which was named... by a then-14-year-old British prince who named it after himself; Suffolk Downs is of course a defunct race track and Wood Island is a defunct amusement park.
Again, I'm not saying that any of those stations should be renamed, but rather that they could be potential options if we identify historical figures we wish to celebrate.
Those stations make an interesting comparison to others, named after figures whose accomplishments are still laudable or positive today, including: Andrew, named after a radical abolitionist; the origin of the name "Jackson Square" is unclear but may have been named after a Revolutionary War general and subsequent elder statesman; and Green Street, which appears to have been simply named for the residents who lived on the street when it was built (one of whom is described as a "gardener and picture frame maker").
In terms of historical figures we might consider elevating, there are numerous sources from which we can draw inspiration. As a starting point, we can consider individuals honored on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail and the Black Heritage Trail; we can also consult any number of histories of minority communities in Boston. These lists are probably overwhelming, and I think that's a good thing! There is so much for us to remember and celebrate, and it's well worth our time to sift through these histories as we consider whose memories we want to define our community through.
As initial suggestions -- given here more to inspire the imagination and remind us how many people there are we could celebrate -- I offer the following:
I suggest Ruggles be renamed to Wheatley, after the first published Black American poet, Phyllis Wheatley. Particularly as this station becomes increasingly important to the overall network (e.g. with additional Urban Ring-like services), and as a key transit gateway to Roxbury and Dorchester, Ruggles offers a very visible and prominent site to honor an early Black Bostonian (who, as I have said in the past, it is vital to remember have been part of Boston since the very beginning). As can be seen in the links above, there are a great many people to choose from, so by no means is "Wheatley" the only option. As I say, I offer this as an initial suggestion, as a way for us to begin to reimagine the kinds of people we name subway stations after.
I suggest Lechmere be renamed to Alcott, after the abolitionist, suffragist, feminist author Louisa May Alcott. (For those of us looking for some connection between Alcott and the station in question, we can point to the longtime association with Concord, reachable by the Fitchburg Railroad, which had a station nearby at East Cambridge.) Alcott is of course known and beloved for Little Women, which was itself wildly popular and a seminal work representing the everyday lives of middle-class girls, but the author also wrote about working in a Civil War hospital (based on the firsthand experience of having served at one), an early gothic thriller novel, and one of the first pieces of American detective fiction. In addition to flouting social gender norms, Alcott also self-described in terms we would understand today as being LGBTQ.
And I suggest that Maverick be renamed after one of Boston's many abolitionists. There are numerous to choose from: William Lloyd Garrison comes to mind, though his steadfast devotion to both abolition and women's suffrage is complicated by his antisemitism; I am drawn however to the story of David Walker, whose "Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World" was so revolutionary that it was essentially banned in the South. Renaming Maverick to Walker would be a small but non-trivial repudiation of Massachusetts' slave-trading past, all the more so because of Samuel Maverick's unique position as one of the region's first slaveowners.
As an alternative (and perhaps a less controversial option), we could also rename Maverick to Zipporah, after a contemporary of Samuel Maverick who, just across the harbor from his land, was the first Black person (and a Black woman at that) to own land in the city of Boston -- and one of the first Black landowners in what would become the United States. "Wheatley" and "Alcott" are largely household names, but "This is a Blue Line train to Charles/MGH, the next stop is Zipporah" will make people look up and wonder, "Who is that?" and would become a daily reminder that Boston's Black residents have been here since the beginning.
~~~
As I say, these suggestions are not meant to be final or definitive. These decisions are the kind that should be made after many conversations and consultations. I am not a Black Bostonian, and it's quite likely that actual Black residents of Boston would have different ideas about whom should be celebrated (to say nothing of our Dominican, Puerto Rican, Haitian, African, Mexican, Central American, Cape Verdean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Eastern European, French Canadian, Muslim, Jewish, LGBTQ and other community members). But I think that conversation begins with an act of imagination, as we seek to expand our idea of who we name our squares, public spaces, and subway stations after. So, here is my act of imagination.
As initial suggestions -- given here more to inspire the imagination and remind us how many people there are we could celebrate -- I offer the following:
I suggest Ruggles be renamed to Wheatley, after the first published Black American poet, Phyllis Wheatley. Particularly as this station becomes increasingly important to the overall network (e.g. with additional Urban Ring-like services), and as a key transit gateway to Roxbury and Dorchester, Ruggles offers a very visible and prominent site to honor an early Black Bostonian (who, as I have said in the past, it is vital to remember have been part of Boston since the very beginning). As can be seen in the links above, there are a great many people to choose from, so by no means is "Wheatley" the only option. As I say, I offer this as an initial suggestion, as a way for us to begin to reimagine the kinds of people we name subway stations after.
I suggest Lechmere be renamed to Alcott, after the abolitionist, suffragist, feminist author Louisa May Alcott. (For those of us looking for some connection between Alcott and the station in question, we can point to the longtime association with Concord, reachable by the Fitchburg Railroad, which had a station nearby at East Cambridge.) Alcott is of course known and beloved for Little Women, which was itself wildly popular and a seminal work representing the everyday lives of middle-class girls, but the author also wrote about working in a Civil War hospital (based on the firsthand experience of having served at one), an early gothic thriller novel, and one of the first pieces of American detective fiction. In addition to flouting social gender norms, Alcott also self-described in terms we would understand today as being LGBTQ.
And I suggest that Maverick be renamed after one of Boston's many abolitionists. There are numerous to choose from: William Lloyd Garrison comes to mind, though his steadfast devotion to both abolition and women's suffrage is complicated by his antisemitism; I am drawn however to the story of David Walker, whose "Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World" was so revolutionary that it was essentially banned in the South. Renaming Maverick to Walker would be a small but non-trivial repudiation of Massachusetts' slave-trading past, all the more so because of Samuel Maverick's unique position as one of the region's first slaveowners.
As an alternative (and perhaps a less controversial option), we could also rename Maverick to Zipporah, after a contemporary of Samuel Maverick who, just across the harbor from his land, was the first Black person (and a Black woman at that) to own land in the city of Boston -- and one of the first Black landowners in what would become the United States. "Wheatley" and "Alcott" are largely household names, but "This is a Blue Line train to Charles/MGH, the next stop is Zipporah" will make people look up and wonder, "Who is that?" and would become a daily reminder that Boston's Black residents have been here since the beginning.
~~~
As I say, these suggestions are not meant to be final or definitive. These decisions are the kind that should be made after many conversations and consultations. I am not a Black Bostonian, and it's quite likely that actual Black residents of Boston would have different ideas about whom should be celebrated (to say nothing of our Dominican, Puerto Rican, Haitian, African, Mexican, Central American, Cape Verdean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Eastern European, French Canadian, Muslim, Jewish, LGBTQ and other community members). But I think that conversation begins with an act of imagination, as we seek to expand our idea of who we name our squares, public spaces, and subway stations after. So, here is my act of imagination.
Brattle Loop
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Interesting post. One point I want to bring up that I think has specific relevance for transit station naming, is that, ideally, a station/stop name will concisely and uniquely identify its location for wayfinding purposes. (See the previous discussion about Aquarium, for instance. "Long Wharf" might reference an older landmark, but Aquarium unambiguously locates it as serving that particular destination.) That makes it problematic when there's discrepancies between station names and their served areas/landmarks. (Such as the period between the hospital being named Tufts Medical Center and the station changing its name. There's a risk of that problem becoming exacerbated in situations where name changes may be particularly controversial or have poor uptake. (I'm particularly thinking about the controversial adding of Reagan's name to National Airport in DC.)
To be clear, I'm not suggesting that squares/landmarks should not be renamed, nor that stations shouldn't be renamed to follow. Dudley being renamed to Nubian after the square was renamed was an appropriate update to correctly align with the landmark's new name (and there I didn't get the impression that there was a ton of resistance to the square being renamed). But I wouldn't agree with renaming particularly stations just for the sake of it, because to me that defeats the purpose of how they should be named to begin with, and particularly where there's not significant consensus on renaming the local landmarks, I worry about adding more grounds for confusion for relatively little reason. (My general rule is that if you have to look up the origins of the name of something to see if its namesake was a particularly-cruddy person or not, most people probably aren't going to know or care, though of course there are exceptions.)
Brattle Loop stated my thoughts better than I could have. I have no strong objection to renaming stations except that the names themselves act as tools to commuters and travelers, and any replacement name really needs to be another landmark or geographical signifier rather than be some honorary thing. To that end, I'd rename Lechmere to CambridgeSide, both in reference to the mall and it's geographical location in relation to the city (Cambridge Crossing sounds too central to me). Ruggles and Maverick seem more difficult to me...maybe Ruggles could be Renaissance, as Northeastern refers to the nearby area as Renaissance Park.
Generally, I think the T system is pretty good as far as station names. I love the old, one-word names that omit "Street" or "Square", just for aesthetics. There's a sort of old school, purposeful dignity to them.
Generally, I think the T system is pretty good as far as station names. I love the old, one-word names that omit "Street" or "Square", just for aesthetics. There's a sort of old school, purposeful dignity to them.
Equilibria
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I respect all the thought that goes into this, but I disagree with the premise: we shouldn't be naming MBTA stations after people, as a general rule. I get that "Lechmere" and "Maverick" (both of which should be renamed) are named after geographic locations themselves named after people, but whatever the fate of the name of the square, the MBTA should be slanting toward the most recognizable, least offensive possible names. I realize I made the tongue-in-cheek suggestion that Lechmere be renamed "Nimoy" on another thread, but the name should be "East Cambridge". "Ruggles" doesn't need renaming at all, since I don't think that a person being a loyalist matters 250 years after we won the war. "Maverick" is a little more challenging because "East Boston" wouldn't be sufficient given the other stations located there - maybe "Jeffries Point" if nothing is wrong with Mr. Jeffries.
Once we start just pulling woke names out of thin air, however laudable or aligned with our current values, we set up more problems for our descendants whose values may be different. More to the point, we obstruct good wayfinding on the system. This was true of "Nubian" as well, which opened this whole can of worms, but at least there the neighborhood made a collective decision to commit to renaming the whole area, not just the station.
Transit station names aren't the place, IMO, to make people ask "who is that?" - they're the place to answer the question "where am I?"
FWIW - I also would like to see school districts adopt a "one building per person" rule - every new school building that gets built cannot be named after the same person as the prior building, if that one had someone's name on it. I went to the Angier School in Newton, named after a school committee member's son who was killed in WWI. Lovely, but there was no need to name another building after him in 2015. Find someone else.
Delvin4519
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Yea. However, I think if that's the case, then it should wait until the BNRD Bus Network Redesign project is 100% fully implemented, including rerouting the 92 bus to Lechmere from Main St., to serve Community College Station. It would also need to wait for the Sullivan Sq./New Rutherford Ave. project to be fully funded, and fully constructed out and completed and in place. If those two projects happen and become 100% complete (alongside the new bridge to North End), I suppose the station name could be changed. However, I think it's just way too premature to do so in the present day's actively hostile conditions for pedestrians.
#bancars
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I think it would be nice to change Harvard Avenue on the B Line to Allston Village, to better reflect its importance as a stop. Many of the outer B and C branch stops just reference the cross streets they stop at, and it can be hard to distinguish between them or remember the names for new riders or even folks who don't ride those branches very often. I think it would be helpful to name the more significant stations on these lines after the area, not just the cross street.
Renaming Harvard Ave to Allston Village would also mirror the C Line, which has its Coolidge Corner stop at the intersection of Harvard and Beacon and is likewise the center of that bustling neighborhood.
Renaming Harvard Ave to Allston Village would also mirror the C Line, which has its Coolidge Corner stop at the intersection of Harvard and Beacon and is likewise the center of that bustling neighborhood.
Agreed. Moreover, a lot of these "squares" are not NOT squares in their physical shape, but in their 2023 nature.
Gilman was an actual "square" in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but now it's two gas stations and a restaurant and nobody in Somerville -- even people who live in the area (hi!) -- have ever called it "Gilman Square" (although that could change, but not any time soon since, as previously discussed, there are no plans to develop the area and certain prohibiting factors block any meaningful development for at least the next decade).
"City Hall" or "School Street" would be a much more accurate present-day name for the stop.
RandomWalk
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City Hall is too generic. Somerville City Hall is more specific, but possibly too wordy.
The city has been trying to perform some placemaking on the Medford/Pearl/School area, but it’s probably going to devolve into large private blocks.
The city has been trying to perform some placemaking on the Medford/Pearl/School area, but it’s probably going to devolve into large private blocks.
The EGE
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It's worth noting that of the six new GLX stations, three maintained the same name through the whole process: Ball Square, Gilman Square, and Union Square. When you include their predecessor railroad stations, all have had multiple names:
- Stearns Steps → College Hill → Tufts College → Tufts University → College Avenue → College Avenue/Winthrop Street → College Avenue → Medford/Tufts
- Willow Bridge → Cambridge Road → Willow Bridge → North Somerville → Ball Square
- Taylor's Ledge → Somerville Centre → Somerville → Somerville Junction → Lowell Street → Magoun Square
- Winter Hill → Gilman Square
- Milk Row → Prospect Hill → Washington Street → Brickbottom → Washington Street → East Somerville
- Prospect Street → Union Square
HenryAlan
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I don't think the distance to Fenway Park from the eponymous station is too significantly further than Kenmore. It's definitely more convenient for people riding between there and outer D-Line stops. But I like the name for other reasons, primarily that it serves as a good reminder that the ball park is named for the neighborhood and not the other way around.
HenryAlan
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This also aligns with the D-Line's Brookline Village, which is I guess technically located at Washington St., but for all intents and purposes, it's the parallel stop to the other two.
BosMaineiac
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Also since the original Boston City Hall is located on School Street, I had to make sure we were even talking about Somerville
