TheNewton and Boston Street Railway was astreetcar company in theBoston, Massachusetts area, eventually bought by theMiddlesex and Boston Street Railway. Its line is now the59Needham Junction –Watertown Square viaNewtonville bus.
The Newton and Boston Street Railway was organized in 1891. It soon opened an electrictrolley line betweenNewton Upper Falls andNewtonville, with regular service beginning August 31, 1892.
An1897 map and an1899 map show a branch toNewton Centre. The 1899 map also shows a branch of theCommonwealth Avenue Street Railway very closely paralleling it. In 1899, the company proposed a never-built line between Reservoir and Newton Center via Beacon Street.[1]
TheNewtonville and Watertown Street Railway was leased October 1, 1897, allowing it to continue northeast toWatertown. An extension southwest toNeedham center was built in 1906. On October 9, 1909, the Newton and Boston was merged into theMiddlesex and Boston Street Railway.
The line wasbustituted in 1926. TheMassachusetts Bay Transportation Authority began tosubsidize the route in September 1964, and assigned it the number32 Needham–Watertown. When the MBTA took over the M&B on June 30, 1972, it was renumbered to532. It was again renumbered in September 1982, and is now the59 Needham Junction – Watertown Square via Newtonville.
The only changes from the original route to the present day have been at Newton Upper Falls. The original alignment was rather circuitous, looping north of Eliot Street on High, Summer and Chestnut Streets, presumably to avoid steepgrades. An alignment in the mid-1970s used aone-way pair, with the northbound direction looping south of Eliot Street. It now uses the old northbound side at Oak and Chestnut Streets in both directions, the opposite of the original route.
Until 20 April 1981, the route only went north fromNeedham Center station; it was extended at that time to Needham Junction.59A Needham Street–Watertown Square was added in December 1984, running Watertown toNewton Highlands station, and splitting there onto its own alignment to the Needham Industrial Park. 59A service was merged into 59 in December 1989, with alternate weekday trips using the 59A alignment and continuing to Newton Junction.
The branch to Newton Centre split from the main route on Walnut Street heading east on Homer Street. It turned south on Centre Street, southeast on Willow Street, south on Sumner Street, and west on Beacon Street, ending at Centre Street.
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