Remembering the El: New Photo Exhibit Recalls Final Days of West End's Elevated Green Line Tracks

Boston, MA—In 2004, 92 years after opening, the Causeway Street Elevated Railway and North Station platform were demolished. With the last piece of the giant structure gone, light shone again on the West End’s main thoroughfare. The West End Museum is hosting a new exhibit that recalls the final days of the elevated tracks and station. Before the El Came Down: Photographs by John Woolf officially opens on July 24 with a reception from 6:30 to 8 p.m., which is free and open to the public. The exhibit gives us a glimpse – and a reminder – of what the El looked like in its final days. (Media note: Download show-related photos here.)

“John Woolf’s photographs of the last days of the El in the West End are not only stunning but document the ongoing urban renewal in the neighborhood that continues today,” Museum Director Susan Hanson said.

Opened on June 1, 1912, the Causeway Street Elevated Railway was one of the last sections of raised tracks constructed in Boston as part of the nation’s first subway system. By the time it was destroyed in 2004, only a short section of elevated railway at the Lechmere MBTA station remained.

​Before the El Came Down: Photographs by John Woolf features vibrant digital photographs of the El taken on a single night just weeks before its demolition. “I wasn’t able to get back to North Station until a few weeks later,” Woolf recalled about his process after that night. “When I did, much to my surprise, the station and all of the elevated train beds had been torn down. All that remained were occasional piles of twisted metal rubble.”

The photographs – edited to convey what Woolf calls “color film noir” – highlight the architecture of the El and North Station platform. They also showcase how those structures fit in among other neighborhood features and shops, such as Empire Photo, which has also since closed.

John Woolf has worked as a photographic artist and at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) for more than 30 years. As the MFA’s Digital Systems Manager of the Department of Intellectual Property, he has become one of the leading experts in reproducing fine art using state-of-the-art digital equipment and software. Combining his mastery of the technical aspects of photography with his desire to document the changing face of the American urban architectural landscape, Woolf has captured three decades of transformation in Boston.

Before the El Came Down: Photographs by John Woolf is free and open to the public during regular Museum hours.

About the West End Museum:
The West End Museum is dedicated to the collection, preservation and interpretation of the history and culture of the West End  neighborhood. The Museum’s permanent exhibit, “The Last Tenement,” highlights the immigrant history of the neighborhood through its decimation under Urban Renewal in 1959; two additional galleries feature rotating exhibits. The Museum is located  near North Station at 150 Staniford St. Suite 7. Hours: Tuesday – Friday 12:00pm – 5:00pm; Saturday 11:00am – 4:00pm. Admission is free.