Walden Street Cattle Pass
United States historic place
Walden Street Cattle Pass | |
 Usually nearly concealed under the Walden Street Bridge, the tunnel is seen here exposed during 2007-08 bridge reconstruction work. | |
42°23′21.9″N 71°7′28.8″W / 42.389417°N 71.124667°W / 42.389417; -71.124667 | |
| Built | 1857 |
|---|---|
| MPS | Cambridge MRA |
| NRHP reference No. | 94000554[1] |
| Added to NRHP | June 3, 1994 |
The Walden Street Cattle Pass, also referred to as the cow path,[2] is an historic site adjacent to the MBTA Commuter Rail Fitchburg Line right-of-way, under the Walden Street Bridge in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
The site, a tunnel for moving cattle between the railroad and the nearby stockyards of the 19th century, was built in 1857. The cattle yards were closed in 1868[3] or "about 1871",[4] but the cattle trade continued; "until the 1920s, cows were unloaded here and driven down Massachusetts Avenue, through Harvard Square, and across the river to the Brighton Abattoir".[4]
Restoration (re-pointing) of the tunnel's brickwork was carried out during the 2007–08 replacement of the second-generation bridge dating from 1914.[2][5] The third-generation bridge opened for traffic in December 2008. The Cambridge City Council discussed creation of a vantage point for viewing the tunnel, ca. 2008, but no action was taken.
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
- ^ a b Walden Street Bridge, Cambridge Department of Public Works Archived 2009-07-05 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge: Northwest Cambridge, 1977, ISBN 0-262-53032-5, Cambridge Historical Commission, Cambridge, Mass., p. 42
- ^ a b "Cambridge Cattle Market", in Cambridge Historical Commission-North Cambridge Stabilization Committee report, 2002
- ^ Yelton, Rick. "Bridging the Gap: Passing on tradition". Masonry Construction Magazine. pp. 2 & 3. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Walden Street Cattle Pass.
Gallery
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Another view of the Cattle Pass during restoration -
The rebuilt bridge, looking north -
The rebuilt bridge, looking south
External links
- Artists' rendition of reconstructed bridge
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- Contributing property
- Keeper of the Register
- Historic district
- History of the National Register of Historic Places
- National Park Service
- Property types
| Barnstable County | |
|---|---|
| Bristol County | |
| Essex County | |
| Hampden County | |
| Middlesex County | |
| Norfolk County | |
| Suffolk County | |
| Worcester County |
Category
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