Magoun Square is a neighborhood centered on the intersection of Broadway and Medford Streets on the border of
Medford and
Somerville, Massachusetts
Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81,045 people. With an area ...
. It is located between the neighborhoods of
Ball Square and
Winter Hill. It is a
mixed-use
Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to so ...
urban business district, with commercial sites in the square and residential areas surrounding it. Trum Field, a park featuring
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...
diamonds and
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
courts, is near Magoun Square, as are the headquarters of the Somerville Department of Public Works. Notable residents include playwright
John Shea.
History
Magoun Square was named after the family of John Calvin Magoun (1797–1882). Magoun was an
assessor
An assessor may be:
* ''Assessor'' (fish), a genus of fishes
* Assessor (law), the assistant to a judge or magistrate
* Assessor (Oxford), a senior officer of the University of Oxford
* Assessor (property), an expert who calculates the value of pr ...
for the town of Somerville, served on the
school committee
A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution.
The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional ar ...
as an overseer of the poor, and was a
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
in the
militia
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non- professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
. His family owned a farm between Broadway and Vernon Streets and lived in the
Adams-Magoun House
The Adams-Magoun House is a historic house at 438 Broadway in Somerville, Massachusetts. Built about 1783, it is one of the city's few surviving 18th-century buildings and its best-preserved. It was listed on the National Register of Historic P ...
, built circa 1783.
Transportation
Magoun Square is located at the intersection of Broadway and Medford Streets, two major thoroughfares. The square is a six-way intersection, with signals for Dexter Street and a municipal parking lot as well as the two major through streets. Lowell Street meets Medford Street just south of the square at a separate light. In 2009, the city requested and received $3 million in
stimulus funding to improve the safety and accessibility of the crash-prone intersection. The project, which totaled $3.1 million in work, included new traffic signals, raised pedestrian islands and accessible curb cuts, bicycle racks, improved sidewalks, and street furniture. The project was initially completed in 2011, though some work had to be redone in 2012.
on the
MBTA Green Line
The Green Line is a light rail system run by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) in the Boston, Massachusetts, metropolitan area. It is the oldest MBTA subway line, and with tunnel sections dating from 1897, the oldest subway ...
is located on Lowell Street south of the actual square, while
Ball Square station is located in
Ball Square west of Magoun Square.
MBTA bus
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) operates 170 bus routes in the Greater Boston area. The MBTA has a policy objective to provide transit service within walking distance (defined as ) for all residents living in areas with pop ...
routes and run through the square, while route follows Main Street to the northeast.
References
External links
Neighborhood profile by City of Somerville
{{coord, 42.397361, -71.104395, region:US_type:landmark, display=title
Squares in Somerville, Massachusetts
Neighborhoods in Somerville, Massachusetts
Medford, Massachusetts