Quincy Shore Drive is a historic

parkway A parkway is a landscaped thoroughfare. The term is particularly used for a roadway in a park or connecting to a park from which trucks and other heavy vehicles are excluded. Over the years, many different types of roads have been labeled p ...

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county. Quincy is part of the Greater Boston area as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in ...

. The road is one of a series of parkways built by predecessors of the

Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is a state agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, situated in the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. It is best known for its parks and parkways. Th ...

, to provide access to parks and beaches in the

Greater Boston Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston, the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England, and its surrounding areas, home to 4,941,632. The most s ...

area. Its development was proposed in 1893 by Charles Eliot, who promoted the development of many of the area's parks and parkways. Planning began in 1897, with land acquisition following around 1900. Construction of the road was begun in 1903 and completed in 1907. The northern terminus of Quincy Shore Drive is at Hancock Street (

Massachusetts Route 3A Route 3A is a state highway in eastern Massachusetts, which parallels Route 3 and U.S. Route 3 (US 3) from Cedarville in southern Plymouth to Tyngsborough at the New Hampshire state line. Route 3A has two major posted segments, separated by ...

), just south of the

Neponset River The Neponset River is a river in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. Its headwaters are at the Neponset Reservoir in Foxborough, near Gillette Stadium. From there, the Neponset meanders generally northeast for about to its mouth at ...

. It runs northeasterly for about through a neighborhood area, reaching the Quincy Shore Reservation at a junction with East Squantum Street. This section is four lanes wide (two in each direction), separated by a tree-lined median, with additional trees on the sides of the roadway providing an attractive canopy. At East Squantum Street the road turns southeasterly to follow the shore for about . The inland side of the roadway is lined primarily with houses, while the shore side provides angled parking and beach access, and provides dramatic views of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and outer

Boston Harbor Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, located adjacent to Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the Northeastern United States. History 17th century Since its dis ...

. This segment is also four lanes, divided by a grassy median. After passing Fenno Street, the road enters Wollaston Beach Reservation, a city-owned park, which it passes through until it crosses over Black Creek and reaches Furnace Brook Parkway, which provides access to the

Blue Hills Reservation Blue Hills Reservation is a state park in Norfolk County, Massachusetts in the United States. Managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, it covers parts of Milton, Quincy, Braintree, Canton, Randolph, and Dedha ...

. It then runs southerly, away from the shore and through a residential area, reaching its southern terminus at Sea Street. The road was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2003.

References

{{Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston Roads on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Parkways in Massachusetts Transportation in Norfolk County, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy, Massachusetts Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts

See also

References