Interior House Painter
Allston MA

Allston
Neighborhood
Packard’s Corner is at the intersection of Commonwealth Avenue and Brighton Avenue in Allston.
Nicknames:  Allston, Rat City, Rock City
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
County	Suffolk
Neighborhood of	Boston
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
Zip Code	02134
Area codes	617 & 857

Allston is an officially recognized neighborhood within the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was named after the American painter and poet Washington Allston. It comprises the land covered by the zip code 02134. For the most part, Allston is administered collectively with the adjacent neighborhood of Brighton. The two are often referred to together as “Allston–Brighton”. Boston Police Department District D-14 covers the Allston-Brighton area and a Boston Fire Department Allston station is located in Union Square which houses Engine 41 and Ladder 14. Engine 41 is nicknamed “The Bull” to commemorate the historic stockyards of Allston.

Housing stock varies but largely consists of brick apartment buildings, especially on Commonwealth Avenue and the streets directly off it, while areas further down Brighton Avenue, close to Brighton, are largely dotted with wooden triple-deckers. Lower Allston, across the Massachusetts Turnpike from the southern portion of Allston, consists of mostly 1890–1920s single-family and multi-family Victorian homes.

History

Allston was an eastern section of the former town of Brighton.

In 1867 a new railroad depot for the Boston and Albany Railroad opened. In 1868 the station and post office in Brighton’s eastern portion were given the name “Allston” after Washington Allston, the noted painter who had lived and worked across the Charles River in the Cambridgeport section of Cambridge. It can even be said to have been named for a specific painting: Washington Allston’s “Fields West of Boston”.

Allston has never existed as a separate political entity in its own right. The Town of Brighton was annexed by the City of Boston in 1874. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow owned several properties in Allston. In 1887 the wooden depot was replaced by the station depicted at the right. In 1888 Boston’s first trolley route began there, running a route through Coolidge Corner, Brookline, to Boylston Street, to downtown Boston.

The Allston community developed largely around large railroad and livestock operations. The Boston and Albany Railroad operated a major rail yard. Stockyards and a large abattoir operated nearby in the northern part of Brighton. All livestock activity ended by the mid-20th century, although much of the rail yard remained in use until 2013 as CSX Transportation’s Beacon Park Yard.

A strip running from Brighton Avenue in Allston out Commonwealth Avenue toward Kenmore Square was Boston’s original “Automile”, lined with automobile dealerships. Packard’s Sales Stable and Riding School gave Packard’s Corner its name, which was then perpetuated by the presence of an opulent Packard dealership. Only a Toyota dealer and a Vespa dealer remain, but the windowed buildings along the eastern end of Brighton Avenue reflect this history.

The Massachusetts Turnpike Extension, built largely on part of the Boston and Albany right-of-way, opened through Allston in 1964 and 1965.

Transportation

The B branch of the Boston MBTA subway Green Line runs through the neighborhood along Commonwealth Avenue. The former “A Line” of the Green Line to Watertown Square ran along Brighton Avenue, and was replaced by MBTA bus route 57. From 2014 to March 2016, the MBTA included bus route 57 in its late night service, running until 3 am. The City of Boston and the MBTA plan to install a bus-only lane for the 57 between Union Square and Packard’s Corner beginning in 2019 to alleviate congestion and speed up bus travel times. Other MBTA bus lines serve Allston, including routes 64, 66, 70 and 86. 34.2% of Allston residents commute by mass transit, while 24.3% commute by walking and another 6.6% commute by bicycle.

Until 2013, the CSX Railroad operated the large Beacon Park freight yard which runs adjacent to the Massachusetts Turnpike; the land has been purchased by Harvard. In May 2006, Harvard officials said that they would like to establish a commuter rail stop in Allston on the Framingham/Worcester line. This would restore service lacking since the closure of the long-dormant Allston train depot. As of 2009, there had been actions by the state legislature to restore train service in the area. In June 2012, plans were announced for a station to be called Boston Landing, located in Brighton, to serve the Allston-Brighton area. Originally intended to open in 2014, the station finally opened in 2017.