City of Boston Designated Landmarks
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Read the Landmark Reports, prepared by the Boston Landmarks Commission here.
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The Boston Landmarks Commission designates landmarks that have “significance above the local level.” The four main landmark criteria are:
- A property listed on the National Register of Historic Places as provided in the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966;
- A resource at which events occurred that have made an outstanding contribution to, and are identified prominently with, or which best represent some important aspect of cultural, political, economic, military, or social history;
- A resource associated significantly with the lives of outstanding historic personages;
- A resource representative of elements of architectural or landscape design or craftsmanship with embody distinctive characteristics of a type inherently valuable for study of a period, style or method of construction or development, or a notable work of an influential architect, landscape architect, designer, or builder.
St. Gabriel’s Monastery
St. Gabriel’s Monastery is a rare example in Boston of the Mission Revival style. It was designed by T. Edward Sheehan and built in 1909 for the Passionist Father on the site of the former David Nevins farm. The Passionist Fathers are known as the pioneers of the Retreat movement in New England.
Allston Depot
The Allston Depot is an example of the Richardsonian Romanesque Style. It was designed by Henry Hobson Richardson’s firm and built in 1887 for the Boston & Albany Railroad as a train station for passengers and the robust cattle industry in the “Cambridge Crossing” section of Brighton, now part of Alston. It was closed in the 1950’s and converted to the Allston Depot Steak House, then the Sports Bar and now Regina Pizzeria. The station is one of 32 constructed by B & A and the last remaining one in Boston.
Charles River Speedway Administration Building
The Charles River Speedway Administration Building is an example of the Shingle and Colonial Styles. It was designed and built in 1899 for the Metropolitan Park Commission, their first major project. It later became the MDC and is now the DCR. The site, which included the police station, managed very popular harness and bicycle racing tracks and a riverfront pedestrian promenade.
Oak Square School
“The Oak Square School, designed in 1894 by City Architect Edmund Wheelwright, is one of Boston’s rare remaining wooden schoolhouses.” An addition was added in 1922. It was the 3rd school for the neighborhood. “Joseph Breck, founder of the agricultural supply company that still bears his name, moved his nursery and experimental garden to this location in 1854. Breck was an original member of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, editor of The New England Farmer and an influential contributor to Brighton’s thriving agricultural industry.”
Chestnut Hill Reservoir and Pumping Stations
The Chestnut Hill Reservoir and Pumping Stations, “an original part of Boston’s water system, reflected a trend of combining technology with high-style architecture.” The first station, built in 1888, “styled in Richardsonian Romanesque by City Architect Arthur Vina, and the adjacent Beaux-Arts structure by Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge, pumped water throughout the city. The curving roadway and pastoral setting created open space before the city’s park system was established.”
Harvard Stadium
Harvard Stadium is the only National Historic Landmark in Allston-Brighton. It was built in 1903 in the Greek and Roman Classical tradition in the shape similar to that of the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens. It was the “first massive structure of reinforced concrete in the world” and the “first large permanent arena for American College Athletics.” It was designed for football, track, and university events. Over the years, it has also hosted music concerts by Janis Joplin, B.B. King, Bob Marley, and Tina Turner. It also hosted regional soccer matches for the 1984 Summer Olympics.
The quoted text comes from permanent plaques on the buildings prepared by the Bostonian Society. Photo credits for all except Harvard Stadium – John Quatrale. For Harvard Stadium – Mariel Leibovich