Washington Street (Boston)
Washington Street is a street originating in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, which extends southwestward to the Massachusetts–Rhode Island state line. The majority of its length outside of the city was built as the Norfolk and Bristol Turnpike in the early 19th century. It is the longest street in Boston and remains one of the longest streets in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Due to various municipal annexations with the city of Boston, the name Washington Street now exists 6 or more times within the jurisdiction(s) of the City of Boston.
Washington Street at Beach Street, looking north, c. 1970, the heart of the Combat Zone
Washington St., early 20th century
Disbrow's Riding School, Washington St., 1850s
Franklin School, 1851
The Boston Neck or Roxbury Neck was an isthmus, a narrow strip of land connecting the then-peninsular city of Boston to the mainland city of Roxbury. The surrounding area was gradually filled in as the city of Boston expanded in population. The land formerly composing the neck is part of the neighborhood now known as the South End.
The trajectory of the Boston Neck along today's Washington Street. Land to the north and west, formerly a tidal marsh, has since been filled in. The much narrower and shorter Fort Point Channel remains to the southeast.
