Davis (MBTA station)

DAVIS
Station statistics
Address	Holland Street & Elm Street Somerville, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°23′49″N 71°07′23″W / 42.397°N 71.123°W / 42.397; -71.123Coordinates: 42°23′49″N 71°07′23″W / 42.397°N 71.123°W / 42.397; -71.123
Lines	Red Line
Connections	MBTA Bus: 87, 88, 89, 90, 94, 96
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Bicycle facilities	165 spaces
Other information
Opened	December 8, 1984
Accessible
Owned by	Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Alewife Terminus Red Line Porter toward Ashmont or Braintree

Davis Station is located at the intersection of Holland Street, Elm Street, and College Avenue (Davis Square), in Somerville, Massachusetts. It opened on December 8, 1984. Davis Station is named after the Davis family of Massachusetts, a political dynasty whose members, over 220 years, have held at least 20 federal and state elected offices throughout New England. Its facilities include:

• a station on the MBTA's Red Line
• a bus terminal for local routes, with a dedicated busway
• bicycle parking
• connections to the Somerville Community Path and the Cambridge Linear Park
• public art, including tiles made by local school children during station construction and an installation of life-size sculptures.^[1] In 2009, a group of local artists attempted to find as many of the tile-makers as possible. The schoolchildren are now 35–45 years old.^[2]

Arts on the Line

Main article: Arts on the Line

As a part of the Red Line Northwest Extension, Davis was included as one of the stations involved in the Arts on the Line program. Arts on the Line was devised to bring art into the MBTA's subway stations in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was the first program of its kind in the United States and became the model for similar drives for art across the country.^[3]

Four of the original twenty artworks are located at Davis station. These works are:

• Untitled by James Tyler - Life-size people created out of cement placed in areas around Davis Square
• Children's Tile Mural by Jack Gregory and Joan Wye - Many tiles created by children placed on the brick wall of the station mezzanine
• Poetry by various poets - Lines of poems are embedded into bricks on the station platform walls
• Sculpture With a D by Sam Gilliam - A large scale, brightly colored, abstract work^[4]

Attractions

• Tufts University, about a 10-minute walk north along College Avenue.
• Davis Square, which features:
  • theater and cinema
  • shops and restaurants
  • Somerville gallery of the Museum of Bad Art

Accessibility

Davis station is wheelchair accessible. See MBTA accessibility.

Bus connections

Elm Street entrance

• 87 Arlington Center or Clarendon Hill — Lechmere Station & Green Line via Somerville
• 88 Clarendon Hill — Lechmere Station via Highland Avenue
• 89 Clarendon Hill or Davis Square — Sullivan Square Station & Orange Line via Broadway
• 90 Davis Square — Wellington Station & Orange Line via Sullivan Square Station & Assembly Square Mall
• 94 Medford Square — Davis Square Station via West Medford & Medford Hillside
• 96 Medford Square — Harvard Station via George St. & Davis Square Station

External links

• MBTA Red Line — Davis Station
• Holland Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• College Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View

References

1. ^ ci.cambridge.ma.us
2. ^ davissquaretilesproject.com
3. ^ Red Line Northwest Extension Pamphlet page 5. The Davis Square Tiles Project. Accessed May 31, 2010
4. ^ Red Line Northwest Extension Pamphlet pages 10-11. The Davis Square Tiles Project. Accessed May 30, 2010