"Dirty Old Boston"

The small building along the riverbank - the Fens Gate-house - is still there today. It was built in 1909 when the Charles River Dam was constructed, which changed the Charles River Basin from saltwater to freshwater. A new conduit was built along the riverbank to carry (most of) the often-polluted Stony Brook flow to below the dam, with the gatehouse as the connection point. Construction of separate storm drains in the early 21st century vastly reduced the amount of polluted runoff in the Stony Brook, so the portion that flows into the Charles isn't an issue.
 
This is an example of why we should never again build roads or mass transit right up against the Harbor or any of our urban waterways. That includes the Neponset and a potential extension of the Red Line from Ashmont. Running a subway train at grade there would be, in many ways, just as short sighted and destructive as this.
 
Scott said:
This is an example of why we should never again build roads or mass transit right up against the Harbor or any of our urban waterways. That includes the Neponset and a potential extension of the Red Line from Ashmont. Running a subway train at grade there would be, in many ways, just as short sighted and destructive as this.
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LOL WHUT? There's been mass transit running at-grade along the Neponset from Ashmont since 1847, about 103 years longer than Storrow Drive has been around. Are you saying you want the trolley ripped up, too because of some wholly arbitrary idea of two-century old "short sightedness"?
 
I am saying that a subway should be a subway when it is near a body of water. You shouldn't be so obviously offended every time it is mentioned
 
Scott said:
I am saying that a subway should be a subway when it is near a body of water. You shouldn't be so obviously offended every time it is mentioned
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You're the one with the frequently-recurring bug up your ass about the very idea of a Red-Mattapan extension causing you to go out of your way to interject it into threads time and again with made-up facts. Don't pass off your own offended sensibilities on other folks, bud.
 
F-Line to Dudley said:
LOL WHUT? There's been mass transit running at-grade along the Neponset from Ashmont since 1847, about 103 years longer than Storrow Drive has been around. Are you saying you want the trolley ripped up, too because of some wholly arbitrary idea of two-century old "short sightedness"?
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I need to agree with F-Line on this one. The tracks have been there for 178 years, and converting the LRV line into HRV would not significantly enlarge the footprint. Any increase in noise can be mitigated by noise barriers.
 
stick n move said:
“Date: Circa 1930
The beginning of the Fens at the Charles River. The turreted dwelling in the lower left is at 461 Commonwealth Avenue—unchanged from then to now. The Massachusetts Avenue Bridge spans the Charles River, connecting to Cambridge, where many of today's MIT buildings are visible back then. What makes this photograph even more enjoyable is what's NOT in it: Storrow Drive had yet to be built, nor had the hideous Bowker Overpass.

A Leslie Jones photograph, courtesy of the Boston Public Library.”

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Boston Mass, Vintage | Date: Circa 1930 | Facebook

Date: Circa 1930 The beginning of the Fens at the Charles River. The turreted dwelling in the lower left is at 461 Commonwealth Avenue—unchanged from then to now. The Massachusetts Avenue Bridge...
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I love that picture.

It's taken from the roof of the Braemore, which is still there. I've thought it would be great (actually, sad) to get up there and recreate that picture now.

Also, there are other photos from that roof, I think taken the same day, showing other vantages. A bunch can be found on Digital Commonwealth. This one looks up Comm Ave, before the Bowker Overpass and before the Mass Ave underpass.

1749458380871.png
 
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