Somerville Community Path
The Somerville Community Path is a paved rail trail in Somerville, Massachusetts, running 3.2 miles (5.1 km) from Massachusetts Avenue to East Cambridge via Davis Square. The first portion opened in 1985 along part of the former Fitchburg Cutoff rail line. Extensions opened in 1994 and 2015. A further 1.9-mile (3.1 km) extension to East Cambridge opened in June 2023 as part of the Green Line Extension project. It is a section of the partially completed Mass Central Rail Trail.
A typical section of the Somerville Community Path
The 2015-opened section in 2019
Truss bridge, top, carries the Community Path over the Green Line Extension and commuter rail tracks
Somerville, Massachusetts
Somerville is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81,045 people. With an area of 4.12 square miles (10.7 km2), the city has a density of 19,671/sq mi (7,595/km2), making it the most densely populated municipality in New England and the 19th most densely populated incorporated municipality in the country. Somerville was established as a town in 1842, when it was separated from Charlestown. In 2006, the city was named the best-run city in Massachusetts by The Boston Globe. In 1972, 2009, and 2015, the city received the All-America City Award. It is home to Tufts University, which has its campus along the Somerville and Medford border.
Davis Square, Somerville
The Old Powder House in Nathan Tufts Park
Ross Moffett's A Skirmish Between British and Colonists near Somerville in Revolutionary Times, 1937
Seven Hills Park at Davis Square. The towers in the park each represent one of the city's original hills.