Hammond Pond Parkway

Hammond Pond Parkway
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
The parkway where it passes under Route 9 in Newton
Location	Brookline and Newton, Massachusetts
Coordinates
Area	14 acres (5.7 ha)
Built	1928
Architect	Eliot, Charles; Olmsted Brothers
MPS	Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston MPS
NRHP Reference #	04000250
Added to NRHP	March 18, 2004

Hammond Pond Parkway is a historic parkway in Brookline and Newton, Massachusetts. The road, built in 1932, extends 1.75 miles (2.82 km) from Beacon Street in Newton to Horace James Circle in Brookline, where it joins the West Roxbury Parkway. It was designed by Charles Eliot and the Olmsted Brothers to provide a parkway setting that provided access from Brookline, Newton, and the western portions of Boston to the southern parks of the Emerald Necklace. The parkway was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

The roadway is generally four lanes of paved asphalt. From its northern end at Beacon Street in Newton, it passes through a conservation area consisting of the Hammond Pond Reservation and the Webster Conservation Area, crossing the MBTA Green Line "D" Branch, formerly the Highland Branch of the Boston and Albany Railroad, along the way, before reaching a junction with Massachusetts Route 9, roughly its midpoint. It passes under Route 9, and then enters Brookline. The area around Route 9 is built up, with shopping malls on either side of the parkway just north of Route 9, and a mix of civic and residential construction just to its south. Beyond this area in Brookline, the parkway passes through a residential area of larger homes with expansive lawns. It then enters Horace James Circle, a junction with the West Roxbury Parkway, Newton Street, LaGrange Street, and Hammond Street.

Land acquisition for the parkway began in 1914 based on designs that were drafted in 1913. Additional land was acquired in 1920, and again in 1930-31. The northern section, between Beacon Street and Route 9, was built in 1931, and the southern section was completed in 1932. Construction was by the M. McDonough Company, and cost over $216,000. Only minor changes have been made to the parkway since its construction. The parkway construction included two significant bridges: the Route 9 overpass, and the bridge which passes over the railroad tracks.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Newton, Massachusetts