Brookline Village station

The Boston and Worcester Railroad opened its Brookline branch from Brookline Junction to Brookline Village on April 10, 1848.{{rp|21}} The branch was extended west to Newton Upper Falls by the Charles River Branch Railroad in November 1852.{{rp|21}} The original wooden station at Brookline was replaced by a Victorian-style red brick station in 1878.{{rp|112}}{{rp|92}} The Boston and Albany Railroad (B&A), the successor to the Boston and Worcester, purchased the 1852-built extension in 1883 and extended it to its mainline at {{bts|Riverside}}.{{rp|22}} The B&A began its Newton Circuit service over the Highland branch on May 16, 1886. All of the Highland branch stations except Brookline were replaced by stone structure designed by H.H. Richardson and Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge in the 1880s and 1890s.{{cite journal |jstor=990324 |title=Architecture for the Boston & Albany Railroad: 1881-1894 |journal=Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians |first=Jeffrey Karl |last=Ochsner |volume=47 |issue=2 |date=June 1988 |doi=10.2307/990324 |pages=109–131}}

File:Brookline Village transfer station 1913 postcard.jpg

The first horsecar line to reach Brookline Village was a branch of the Tremont Street line, which opened on October 26, 1859 from Roxbury Crossing to slightly northwest of Brookline Village along Washington Street.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52616490/new-england-farmer/ |title=Horse Railroad to Brookline |newspaper=New England Farmer |date=October 29, 1859 |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} A branch from Brookline Village to Cypress Street on Pill Hill opened around 1888.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52615990/the-boston-globe/ |title=[Untitled classified ad] |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=October 4, 1888 |page=7 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52632767/the-boston-globe/ |title=By Lewis J. Bird & Co., Auctr's. |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=October 15, 1889 |page=7 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52632813/the-boston-globe/ |title=Two Horses Electrocuted |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=July 27, 1890 |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} Both lines were electrified on August 4, 1894.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52742065/the-boston-globe/ |title=Brookline |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=August 4, 1894 |page=5 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} The Washington Street branch was extended to {{bts|Washington Square}} on September 1; this allowed through service from Reservoir, and – after August 1896 – {{bts|Lake Street|Green}}.{{cite magazine |title=This Time in History |magazine=Rollsign |date=September–October 2019 |page=13 |volume=56 |issue=9/10 |publisher=Boston Street Railway Association}}{{cite book |title=Tremont Street Subway: A Century of Public Service |last1=Clarke |first1=Bradley H. |last2=Cummings |first2=O.R. |year=1997 |publisher=Boston Street Railway Association |isbn=0938315048 }}{{rp|58}} Two additional lines were added in July 1900: a branch on Harvard Street to {{bts|Coolidge Corner}} (with through service to {{bts|Oak Square}}, and the Ipswich Street line on Brookline Avenue.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52811978/the-boston-globe/ |title=New Electric Car Routes |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=July 30, 1900 |page=12 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} The Ipswich Street line was extended to Chestnut Hill in late 1900, and the Boston and Worcester Street Railway (B&W) began running on the Chestnut Hill tracks in May 1903.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52840937/the-boston-globe/ |title=Wrangle Ends |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=December 15, 1900 |page=11 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}{{cite book |last1=Carlson |first1=Stephen P. |last2=Harding |first2=Thomas W. |title=From Boston to the Berkshires: a pictorial review of electric transportation in Massachusetts |year=1990 |publisher=Boston Street Railway Association |isbn=093831503X |page=123}}

Even before the completion of the lines in 1900, the Boston Elevated Railway (BERy) noted the need for improved transfer facilities in Brookline Village. Residents and local politicians petitioned for improved facilities in 1904 and 1908.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52860530/the-boston-globe/ |title=Village-Sq Controversy |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=September 29, 1908 |page=8 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52860468/the-boston-globe/ |title=Their Plans Differ |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=January 5, 1904 |page=5 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} A transfer station in the middle of the square was finally built in 1912 during road widening.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52562972/the-boston-globe/ |title=Brookline |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=September 6, 1912 |page=6 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} It had two side platforms, with shelters similar to those at Coolidge Corner.{{rp|111}} By 1926, the transfer station served five main streetcar routes: Chestnut Hill–{{bts|Park Street}} via Huntington Avenue, Cypress Street–Massachusetts via Ipswich Street, Lake Street–Brookline Village via Washington Street, Allston–Dudley, and the B&W.{{cite magazine |publisher=Boston Street Railway Association |magazine=Rollsign |title=Fifty Years Ago... The Last Days of Cypress Street Carhouse |date=March–April 1984 |first=Richard |last=Barber |pages=3–7 |volume=21 |issue=3/4}}

The Washington Street line was converted to bus in 1926.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52860750/the-boston-globe/ |title=Brookline Grants Elevated Bus Line |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=February 24, 1926 |page=17 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} As construction of the Worcester Turnpike progressed eastward, the B&W was replaced by buses in June 1932, followed by the Chestnut Hill branch that November. The Ipswich Street line was cut back and mostly replaced by buses to {{bts|Kenmore}} in mid-1933. Cypress Street service (operated via Huntington after 1932) was cut back to Brookline Village on June 10, 1934. The Allston–Dudley route was replaced by buses on September 10, 1938, with the Huntington Avenue cars cut back to {{bts|Brigham Circle}} short turns. The city immediately demolished the transfer station to speed traffic flow through the square.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52860200/the-boston-globe/ |title=Brookline |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=September 7, 1938 |page=11 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}{{cite book |title=Trolleys Under the Hub |last1=Cheney |first1=Frank |last2=Sammarco |first2=Anthony M. |year=1997 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=0752409077 }}{{rp|111}}

File:Outbound shelter at Brookline Village station, August 2018.JPG

In June 1957, the Massachusetts Legislature approved the purchase of the Highland branch by the M.T.A. from the nearly-bankrupt New York Central Railroad for conversion to a trolley line. Service ended on May 31, 1958.{{cite book |title=Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years |last1=Humphrey |first1=Thomas J.|last2=Clark |first2=Norton D. |publisher=Boston Street Railway Association |year=1985 |isbn=9780685412947 |pages=21–24}} The line was quickly converted for trolley service, and the line including Brookline Village station reopened on July 4, 1959. The station building, like most on the line, was torn down during the conversion. Brookline Village was the only station on the line with a shelter on the outbound platform as well as the inbound platform; this was to accommodate riders changing for the Washington Street and Brookline Avenue bus routes.{{Humphrey Bus Report|page=69}}

The station has two side platforms serving the line's two tracks.

In the early 2000s, the MBTA modified key surface stops with raised platforms for accessibility as part of the Light Rail Accessibility Program. Portable lifts were installed at Brookline Village around 2000 as a temporary measure, though it was not modified with raised platforms in 2002-03 as other stations were.{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220063458/http://www.bostonmpo.org/bostonmpo/pmt-old/PMT-1.pdf |archive-date=February 20, 2012 |url=http://www.bostonmpo.org/bostonmpo/pmt-old/PMT-1.pdf |title=Executive Summary |work=Program of Mass Transportation |date=January 2004 |publisher=Boston Regional Metropolitan Planning Organization |page=2{{hyphen}}9}}{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010701041753/http://www.mbta.com/text-only/schedmaps/map/map.pdf |archive-date=July 1, 2001 |url=http://www.mbta.com/text-only/schedmaps/map/map.pdf |title=Subway Map |date=2001 |publisher=Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority}}

During the Brookline Village/Longwood Avenue Station Renovation Project, the MBTA reconstructed {{bts|Longwood}} and Brookline Village stations for accessibility. The two stations received raised platforms to interface with low-floor LRVs, wooden ramps to access older high-floor LRVs, and other upgrades. Work on both stations began on July 23, 2007, and construction was completed in the second quarter of 2009.{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080116141040/http://www.mbta.com/about_the_mbta/t_projects/?id=13785 |archive-date=January 16, 2008 |url=http://www.mbta.com/about_the_mbta/t_projects/?id=13785 |title=Brookline Village Station and Longwood Station MBTA Contract No. A27CN02: Light Rail Accessibility Program, D-Line |publisher=Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority}}{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100102134313/http://mbta.com/uploadedfiles/Riding_the_T/Accessible_Services/Accessible_Services_List/Accessibility%20Calendar.pdf |archive-date=January 2, 2010 |url=https://www.mbta.com/uploadedfiles/Riding_the_T/Accessible_Services/Accessible_Services_List/Accessibility%20Calendar.pdf |title=Access in Motion: 2009 Calendar |year=2009 |publisher=Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority}}

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{{Reflist}}

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• [https://www.mbta.com/stops/place-bvmnl MBTA - Brookline Village]
• [https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3327955,-71.116962,3a,75y,164.02h,82.09t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1skf68UTa4pjLAl7erbYB2AA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 Station from Google Maps Street View]

{{Brookline, Massachusetts}}

{{MBTA Subway Stations}}

Category:Green Line (MBTA) stations

Category:Railway stations in Brookline, Massachusetts

Category:Former Boston and Albany Railroad stations

Category:Railway stations in the United States opened in 1959