Shot Here · STOP 13 · Dewey Square
The city bought South Station in 1965 to knock it down, then sold what was left for less.
The city bought South Station in 1965 and planned to knock it down. It survived, made the National Register in 1975, and played itself in The Thomas Crown Affair and The Verdict. For decades it was the busiest terminal in the country. The clock up top is styled after Big Ben, and the Globe called it New England's largest working hand-wound clock. Look up from Dewey Square.
This is stop 13 of Shot Here. Walk it free in the app.
The plate
Collected on site
South Station, Atlantic Avenue at Summer Street (Dewey Square)
Directions
For decades, Amtrak says, this was the busiest terminal in the country, handling nearly 40 million passengers a year.
More footnotes on the story card, in the app.
Near South Station · Near Downtown Crossing
Sources (5)
- Reel BostonTy Burr, The Boston Globe · 2005-02-27
- Boston, MA - South Station (BOS)Amtrak, Great American Stations · accessed 2026-10-11
- South StationWikipedia (citing Boston Globe 2008 on the clock; Brody, Boston Globe Magazine 1972; NRIS) · accessed 2026-10-11
- The InterContinental HotelCultureNow · n.d. (via under-boston s43)
- Artery vent buildings (Raphael Lewis, Globe Staff)Boston Globe via Boston.com · 2002-05-07