Boston is one of the oldest cities in the United States as well as the capital of Massachusetts. The city is known for major events such as the Boston Tea Party and the Boston Massacre, but also as being the first place for many common things today. The first public school of the nation opened in 1635 and the first subway system appeared in 1897.

It was on this day, September 1, 1897, that the Boston subway opened as North America’s first underground rapid transit system due to a congestion of streetcars in its downtown area. Boston’s line predated the New York City Subway by three years. The workers used shovels to dig the tunnel and were called “sandhogs.” These sandhogs dug alongside the Old Common Burial Ground and discovered remains of over 900 bodies in the process!

Today, the subway system consists of three rapid transit lines, the Red, the Orange, and the Blue line as well as two light rail lines, the Green and the Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line. Part of the Green Line that goes from Park Street Station and Boylston Street at the Boston Common is where the first subway line ran.