Veterans of Foreign Wars Parkway

Veterans of Foreign Wars Parkway, Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Veterans of Foreign Wars Parkway in West Roxbury
Show map of Massachusetts Show map of the US
Location	Boston and Brookline, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°17′10″N 71°9′31″W / 42.28611°N 71.15861°W / 42.28611; -71.15861Coordinates: 42°17′10″N 71°9′31″W / 42.28611°N 71.15861°W / 42.28611; -71.15861
Area	20 acres (8.1 ha)
Built	1931
Architect	Charles Eliot, Olmsted Brothers
MPS	Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston MPS
NRHP Reference #	04001432[1]
Added to NRHP	January 5, 2005

The Veterans of Foreign Wars Parkway (referred to locally as the VFW Parkway) is a historic parkway in Boston, Massachusetts and two adjacent towns. The southern terminus of the parkway is at Washington Street in Dedham, from where it travels north and then east, ending at a junction with Centre Street, near the Arnold Arboretum. It passes through a small corner of Brookline just west of its junction with the West Roxbury Parkway. Most of its length, from Spring Street in West Roxbury to its eastern end, is administered by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), a successor to the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) which oversaw the road's construction. The parkway was built in stages between 1930 and 1942, and was designed to provide a parkway connection from the Upper Charles River Reservation to other MDC parks via the West Roxbury Parkway. The DCR portion of the road was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.^[2] The road formerly carried the designation for U.S. Route 1.^[3]

Route description

The parkway begins at an intersection with Washington Street and Boston-Providence Highway in Dedham, essentially as a northward continuation of Providence Highway. It soon crosses into Boston, reaching a major junction near the Charles River with Bridge Street (the eastern terminus of Massachusetts Route 109) and Spring Street. It continues generally northward, flanking parkland adjacent to the river on its left. It crosses the Needham Line of the MBTA Commuter Rail before turning more generally eastward near the junction with Baker Street. The rest of its route is mainly eastward, meeting the West Roxbury Parkway at the Frank R. Kelly Memorial Rotary in the southern tip of Brookline. It then passes the Allandale Woods on its left before reaching its eastern end at Centre Street, a short way west of the Arnold Arboretum.^[2]

History

The parkway was constructed in three stages. The first section, built between 1931 and 1938, connected Spring Street to the West Roxbury Parkway. In 1941 the southern extension to Washington Street was added, and the eastern connection to Centre Street was built in 1942. The initial construction phase resulted in a two-lane road separated by a median and lined with trees. Many of these trees are still standing, providing a canopy over the roadway. A drainage system was installed in the Baker Street area in 1939, and the southbound lanes south of West Roxbury Parkway were reconstructed in 1941. The eastern section of the parkway was built the following year on the right-of-way of an existing city street. Changes to the parkway have been minimal since its construction; repairs have been made with similar materials.^[2]

See also

• Massachusetts portal
• Boston portal
• National Register of Historic Places portal
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Norfolk County, Massachusetts
• National Register of Historic Places listings in southern Boston, Massachusetts
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Brookline, Massachusetts

References

U.S. National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Topics	Contributing property Keeper of the Register Historic district History of the National Register of Historic Places National Park Service Property types
Lists by county	Barnstable Berkshire Bristol Dukes Essex Franklin Hampden Hampshire Middlesex Nantucket Norfolk Plymouth Suffolk Worcester (northern)
Lists by city	Barnstable County Barnstable Harwich Bristol County Fall River New Bedford Taunton Essex County Andover Gloucester Ipswich Lawrence Lynn Methuen Salem Hampden County Springfield Middlesex County Arlington Cambridge Concord Framingham Lexington Lowell Marlborough Medford Newton Reading Sherborn Somerville Stoneham Wakefield Waltham Weston Winchester Norfolk County Brookline Milton Quincy Suffolk County Boston northern southern Worcester County Southbridge Uxbridge Worcester eastern northwestern southwestern
Other lists	Bridges Cape Cod National Seashore National Historic Landmarks Boston
Category NRHP portal Massachusetts portal

Streets and squares in Boston
Streets	Arborway Atlantic Avenue Beacon Street Bennington Street Blue Hills Parkway Bowdoin Street Boylston Street Brattle Street Brookline Avenue Charles Street Columbus Avenue Commonwealth Avenue Congress Street Court Street Day Boulevard Dorchester Avenue Federal Street Fenway Franklin Street Gallivan Boulevard Hanover Street Huntington Avenue Jamaicaway Massachusetts Avenue Melnea Cass Boulevard Memorial Drive Milk Street Morrissey Boulevard Morton Street Neptune Road New Chardon Street Newbury Street North Street Park Street Park Drive Riverway School Street Soldiers Field Road State Street Stony Brook Reservation Parkways Storrow Drive Summer Street Tremont Street Truman Parkway Union Street Veterans of Foreign Wars Parkway Washington Street West Roxbury Parkway Winter Street Yawkey Way
Squares, circles, crossings and corners	Adams Square Andrew Square Blackstone Square Brigham Circle Central Square Chester Square City Square Cleveland Circle Codman Square Copley Square Day Square Dewey Square Dock Square Downtown Crossing Dudley Square Egleston Square Fields Corner Franklin Square Haymarket Square Hyde Square Jackson Square Kenmore Square Louisburg Square Maverick Square Packard's Corner Park Square Peabody Square Post Office Square Roxbury Crossing Scollay Square Sullivan Square Teele Square Thompson Square Union Square Uphams Corner
Italics denote streets and squares that no longer exist. See also Neighborhoods in Boston Transportation in Boston