Under Boston · STOP 01 · West End / Bulfinch Triangle
The Sky Over Causeway Street Used to Be Steel
Until 2004 an elevated railway ran over Causeway Street, and the first American subway climbed out of the ground in the block beside it. Boston's mail came up here too: in 1897 the first pneumatic mail tube ended by North Union Station, and a 1917 federal survey found 80 feet of disused tube a block west, at Nashua Street. Look up. The sky is new.
This is stop 1 of Under Boston. Walk it - any two stops are free.
The plate
Collected on site
The 1918 federal survey measured Boston's tubes in 'double miles' - one pipe each way. It counted 7.0566 of them, which is just over fourteen miles of actual pipe under the streets.
More footnotes on the story card, in the app.
In these collections: After Dark, Under Your Feet
Near North Station · Near Haymarket · Near Bowdoin
Sources (9)
- The Tube Line - FINAL PACKAGE + Source of TruthAlarm Club (Third Polar Arch), internal Notion · 2026-09-21 (updated 2026-09-25)
- Pneumatic Tube Line BegunBoston Daily Globe · 1897-09-21
- Investigations as to pneumatic-tube service for the mails (H. Doc. 60-1220), incl. plate O-A 34 'Plan of System of Boston Pneumatic Transit Co., Sept 1 1908'US Congress (Serial Set 5448) · 1908
- Report of the Joint Commission on Postal Service on pneumatic tube service (S. Doc. 65-191), Appendix AUS Congress (Serial Set 7322) · 1918
- Fifth Annual Report of the Boston Transit Commission (year ending Aug 15 1899)Boston Transit Commission · 1899
- Canal Street inclineWikipedia · accessed 2026-10-10
- Fourth Annual Report of the Boston Transit Commission (year ending Aug 15 1898)Boston Transit Commission · 1898
- Causeway Street elevatedWikipedia (citing Boston Globe May 28 and June 1 1912; Clarke & Cummings 1997; Boston Globe Nov 11 2005; MBTA Nov 4 2005) · accessed 2026-10-10
- June 25, 2004: Last Elevated Train Runs in BostonMass Moments (Mass Humanities) · n.d.