BOSTON - A group of 100 history enthusiasts got a rare look at an old piece of Boston on Monday.
The lucky group went "underground" to see an abandoned train tunnel, one of the oldest in the county. Boston 25 News reporter Robert Goulston was invited on the tour and gave us a look back in time.
Here is the tunnel that was part of the oldes subway on the country opened in 1898. This tunnel was part of what was called the Boylston Street Subway pic.twitter.com/G8wwcBbQlG
— Robert Goulston (@rgoulston) May 21, 2018
The tour began through a door in the parking garage of City Hall many walk by but never enter, because it's usually locked.
The tunnel, built in 1898, is about 200 feet long, wide enough for two trains to run side by side and 20-25 feet deep underground.
Some of the old subway tunnel dating back to 1898. pic.twitter.com/oqMZrfPrye
— Robert Goulston (@rgoulston) May 21, 2018
City archeologist Joe Bagley has been working for months to open the abandoned tunnel, saying the tour group are some of the first people to come through it in more than five decades.
City Archeologist, Joe Bagley, is getting ready to give us a tour of the old abandoned subway tunnel that runs under City Hall. pic.twitter.com/qqdG6pnPum
— Robert Goulston (@rgoulston) May 21, 2018
"That used to go between Scollay Square and Adams Square station that was decommissioned in the 1960's and has since been abandoned," said Bagley. "The vaulting of the ceiling, the archways, the support structures behind me, that was all here in 1898 when the first trolley cars came down this space."
Temporary lights were installed for the tour, but the walls, paint and structure date back to when Boston's first subway started running.
The city archeologist is giving tours of one of the oldest sections of subway in the country. pic.twitter.com/C6QeMr3cF2
— Robert Goulston (@rgoulston) May 21, 2018
The tours run one day only, where thousands of people signed up for the 100 slots available. Monday's tour was their first public event
Guides let in about 25 people at a time during lunchtime hours.
This stretch of tunnel ran from the old Scollay Square station (Now Government Center) to Adams Square (which closed in 1963). @BostonArchaeo is doing tours today and maybe again in the Fall. pic.twitter.com/TfJIVVGHWZ
— Robert Goulston (@rgoulston) May 21, 2018
"I wasn't expecting it to be so clean in a way because this is not very dirty," said Megan Sheehan. "So It's a great opportunity to come down and see part of history that is still here but not visible to the public."
Sheehan, who is an archeology student herself, said these opportunities in a city with growth like Boston could be rarer than one may think.
With @rgoulston & the first members of the public, @BostonArchaeo took us on a tour of an abandoned subway tunnel underneath #Boston City Hall. #Boston25Photogs #Boston25 #MBTA pic.twitter.com/agK49y1oUP
— Adam Liberatore (@bostonTVguy) May 21, 2018
"Especially with the way city planning goes you never know what historic sights are going to be disappearing in the future," said Sheehan.
The city is considering the idea of potentially re-opening the tunnel again in the Fall.
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