Davis (MBTA station)

DAVIS
Outbound train at Davis station
Location	Holland Street & Elm Street Somerville, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°23′49″N 71°07′23″W / 42.397°N 71.123°W / 42.397; -71.123Coordinates: 42°23′49″N 71°07′23″W / 42.397°N 71.123°W / 42.397; -71.123
Owned by	Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Line(s)	Red Line
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Connections	MBTA Bus: 87, 88, 89, 90, 94, 96
Construction
Bicycle facilities	165 spaces in "Pedal and Park" bicycle cage
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	1870 (B&L) December 8, 1984 (MBTA)
Closed	1927 (B&L)
Previous names	West Somerville
Traffic
Passengers (2013)	12,857 (weekday average boardings)[1]
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Alewife Terminus Red Line Porter toward Ashmont or Braintree

Davis Station is a transfer station serving the MBTA's rapid transit Red Line, located at Davis Square, the intersection of Holland Street, Elm Street, and College Avenue. By consequence of geography and system layout, Davis Station is one of only two rapid transit stations in Somerville, the other being Assembly on the Orange Line. It is bordered on both sides by stations that lie in Cambridge: Alewife and Porter.

Opened in 1985, Davis Station takes its name from Davis Square, which was named after Person Davis (1819-1894), a grain dealer who moved to the area in 1850 and built his estate near the intersection of Elm, Grove and Morrison Streets.^[2] The station is fully handicapped accessible.

Facilities include a bus terminal for local routes, with a dedicated busway, two head houses and bicycle parking. Davis also includes connections to the Somerville Community Path and the Cambridge Linear Park.

Station layout

History

Davis station under construction in 1983

Streetcars propelled the growth of West Somerville after 1858, and regular passenger rail was not far behind. Beginning in 1870, passenger service on the Lexington and Arlington branch of the Boston and Lowell Railroad (later succeeded by the Boston and Maine Railroad) came through Davis Square, with a "West Somerville" stop in the square. A station was built in 1888.^[3] The streetcar and railroad service stimulated substantial development in the 1870s and 1880s as Davis Square quickly grew into an active commercial center. A boom in residential construction followed in the 1890s.^[4]

In 1927, passenger rail service was re-routed, contributing to a decline in the area that became more severe after World War II. In the 1960s or 1970s, local officials and citizen groups successfully petitioned the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to create a Red Line subway stop in Somerville at Davis Square. Davis opened to passengers for the first time on December 8, 1984,^[5] spurring major development and revitalization of the area.

Arts on the Line

As a part of the Red Line Northwest Extension, Davis was included as one of the stations involved in the Arts on the Line program. Arts on the Line was devised to bring art into the MBTA's subway stations in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was the first program of its kind in the United States and became the model for similar drives for art across the country.^[6]

Four of the original twenty artworks are located at Davis station.^[7] These works are:

• Ten Figures by James Tyler - Life-size people created out of cement, placed in areas around Davis Square
• Children's Tile Mural by Jack Gregory and Joan Wye - Many tiles created by children placed on the brick wall of the station mezzanine. In 2009, a group of local artists attempted to find as many of the tile-makers as possible. The schoolchildren are now 35–45 years old^[8]
• Poetry by various poets - Lines of poems are embedded into bricks on the station platform floor
• Sculpture with a D by Sam Gilliam - A large scale, brightly colored, abstract work^[9]

Bus connections

A route 90 bus at Davis in 2015

Additionally, Davis Station connects to several MBTA Bus Lines leading to nearby towns:^[10]

• 87 Arlington Center or Clarendon Hill - Lechmere Station via Somerville Avenue
• 88 Clarendon Hill — Lechmere Station via Highland Avenue
• 89 Clarendon Hill or Davis Square - Sullivan Square Station via Broadway
• 90 Davis Square - Wellington Station via Sullivan Square Station & Assembly Mall
• 94 Medford Square — Davis Square Station via West Medford & Medford Hillside
• 96 Medford Square — Harvard Station via George St. & Davis Square Station

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Davis (MBTA station).

• MBTA — Davis
• Holland Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• College Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Subway lines (List of stations)	Heavy rail      Blue      Orange      Red Light rail      Green "B" Branch "C" Branch "D" Branch "E" Branch      Ashmont–Mattapan Former lines      Arborway Line      Atlantic Avenue Elevated      Causeway Street Elevated      Charlestown Elevated      Green Line "A" Branch      Washington Street Elevated
Commuter Rail lines (List of stations)	North Station lines Fitchburg Haverhill (Wildcat Branch) Lowell Newburyport/Rockport South Station lines Fairmount Framingham/Worcester Franklin Greenbush Needham Old Colony (Kingston/Plymouth Middleborough/Lakeville      CapeFLYER) Providence/Stoughton Former lines Central Mass Branch Dedham Branch Lexington Branch Millis Branch Woburn Branch
Bus routes (List of routes)	Silver Line Crosstown routes Key routes Trackless trolleys Routes East Boston, Chelsea, Revere Melrose, Reading, Stoneham, Wakefield South Boston
Other services	Boat The Ride
Component parts of system lines	Boylston Street Subway      Haymarket North Extension      Lechmere Viaduct      Tremont Street Subway
Capital projects	Under construction      Blue Hill Avenue station      Boston Landing station           Forest Hills modifications      Green Line Extension      Haverhill Line upgrades           Silver Line Gateway / Chelsea station      South Coast Rail In planning / proposed      Buzzards Bay extension      Foxboro service      Hynes Convention Center renovation      Kingston R.I. extension      Nashua extension      Route 16 extension      Wollaston renovation Formerly proposed      Arborway Line restoration      Indigo Line (Fairmount Grand Junction Track 61)      Lexington extension      Lynn extension      North–South Rail Link      Plaistow extension      Reading extension           Red Line—Blue Line Connector Urban Ring Project
History	Predecessor companies Boston Elevated Railway Streetcar lines Boston and Maine Railroad Conrail New York Central Railroad New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Penn Central Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway Middlesex and Boston Street Railway Newton and Boston Street Railway Accidents and incidents      1990 Back Bay      2008 Waban/Woodland
Other	Accessibility Arts on the Line Bicycling CharlieCard Grand Junction Railroad "Charlie on the M.T.A." Nomenclature Police                Winter Street Concourse Yards and maintenance facilities