Davis (MBTA station)

DAVIS
Outbound train at Davis station
Location	Holland Street & Elm Street Somerville, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°23′49″N 71°07′23″W / 42.397°N 71.123°W / 42.397; -71.123Coordinates: 42°23′49″N 71°07′23″W / 42.397°N 71.123°W / 42.397; -71.123
Owned by	Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Line(s)	Red Line
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Connections	MBTA Bus: 87, 88, 89, 90, 94, 96
Construction
Bicycle facilities	165 spaces in "Pedal and Park" bicycle cage
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	1870 (B&L) December 8, 1984 (MBTA)
Closed	1927 (B&L)
Previous names	West Somerville
Traffic
Passengers (2013)	12,857 (weekday average boardings)
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Alewife Terminus Red Line Porter toward Ashmont or Braintree

Davis Station is a transfer station serving the MBTA's rapid transit Red Line, located at Davis Square, the intersection of Holland Street, Elm Street, and College Avenue. By consequence of geography and system layout, Davis Station is one of only two rapid transit stations in Somerville, the other being Assembly on the Orange Line. It is bordered on both sides by stations that lie in Cambridge: Alewife and Porter.

Opened in 1985, Davis Station takes its name from Davis Square, which was named after Person Davis (1819-1894), a grain dealer who moved to the area in 1850 and built his estate near the intersection of Elm, Grove and Morrison Streets. The station is fully handicapped accessible.

Facilities include a bus terminal for local routes, with a dedicated busway, two head houses and bicycle parking. Davis also includes connections to the Somerville Community Path and the Cambridge Linear Park.

Streetcars propelled the growth of West Somerville after 1858, and regular passenger rail was not far behind. Beginning in 1870, passenger service on the Lexington and Arlington branch of the Boston and Lowell Railroad (later succeeded by the Boston and Maine Railroad) came through Davis Square, with a "West Somerville" stop in the square. A station was built in 1888. The streetcar and railroad service stimulated substantial development in the 1870s and 1880s as Davis Square quickly grew into an active commercial center. A boom in residential construction followed in the 1890s.

In 1927, passenger rail service was re-routed, contributing to a decline in the area that became more severe after World War II. In the 1960s or 1970s, local officials and citizen groups successfully petitioned the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to create a Red Line subway stop in Somerville at Davis Square. Davis opened to passengers for the first time on December 8, 1984, spurring major development and revitalization of the area.