Part 8/14:
The major breakthrough came with the construction of the Tremont Street Subway, opened in 1897. This was America’s first subway, predating New York’s system by over seven years. Constructed rapidly in just over two years, it featured a brick and concrete tunnel with two tracks running underneath Boston’s oldest streets, connecting key points like Public Garden and North Station. Its design was scalable; surface routes could descend underground, avoid busy downtown areas, and then reemerge, creating a flexible, city-wide network.