 "Photo: Amanda Widoniak")
This is the fourth in an occasional series on neighborhoods surrounding T stops.
Odd-looking bronze and masonry statues stand side-by-side with civilians enjoying their daily lives near the Davis T stop on the Red Line. They appear to be ordinary citizens themselves, blending into the lively cultural hotspot that defines the southwest edge of Somerville.
The station, only a half a mile from Tufts University, was built in 1985 as part of the Alewife Line extension.
But Davis station was not originally part of subway extension plans.
"[The line was] originally supposed to go from Harvard Square up Massachusetts Avenue," said George Sanborn, Reference Librarian at the State Transportation Library of Massachusetts.
Sanborn said Cambridge business owners along Massachusetts Avenue opposed the Red Line expansion because they feared construction noise would put them out of business.
But Somerville residents wanting a subway connection appealed to the MBTA, who built the railway through Davis and Porter squares.
"It suddenly became economically feasible," Sanborn said.
In addition to station construction finds, the Department of Transportation also offered grants through the Design, Art and Architecture program in 1977 to make the station more attractive. The grants resulted in 70 works of art on six transit lines, according to mbta.com.
Davis Square statues, built by James Tyler, were modeled after real people who lived in and around Davis Square.
Although they were originally all stone, the faces of some of the statues were vandalized over time, and the artist and the city agreed to replace the faces with bronze masks.
"They've been here forever," said lifelong Somerville resident Marguerite VanGeenhoven, 25.
VanGeenhoven works at Toscanini's Ice Cream and Someday Café in the middle of Davis Square.
"[Davis] is not as hectic as other places," VanGeenhoven said, noting the area has a family atmosphere.
Tufts freshman Claire Hoffman said students and visitors are often "freaked out" by the statues, but that the square's boutiques, restaurants and bars are worth the visit.
"Davis is really cool," Hoffman said, adding that the small shops offer a needed alternative to the mainstream stores of Harvard Square and downtown Boston. "It's small and cute," she said.
Hoffman said Tufts students frequent Davis Square because it is on the way in and out of Boston. The cafés and taco shops, including Toscanini's, the Diesel Café and Anna's Taqueria, provide a close, quick escape from the college campus.
The T station also features Sam Gillam's "Sculpture with a D," a very colorfully painted aluminum sculpture over the outbound platform which features an offset D for Davis.
Be the first to comment on this article!