Comfort Station (Milton, Massachusetts)

For other uses, see Comfort station.
Comfort Station
West side
Location Blue Hill Ave., Milton, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°13′9.9″N 71°7′5.6″W / 42.219417°N 71.118222°W / 42.219417; -71.118222Coordinates: 42°13′9.9″N 71°7′5.6″W / 42.219417°N 71.118222°W / 42.219417; -71.118222
Area less than one acre
Built 1904
Architect Stickney & Austin
Architectural style Swiss Chalet
MPS Blue Hills and Neponset River Reservations MRA
NRHP Reference # 80000658[1]
Added to NRHP September 25, 1980

The Comfort Station is a historic "sanitary" on Blue Hill Avenue in Milton, Massachusetts. It is located in the Blue Hills Reservation, managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Although finely detailed by Stickney & Austin in Swiss Chalet style, this is a very simple building, built in 1904 for a single purpose which it still performs today. It is approximately 35x22 feet(10x7m), divided approximately half and half between men's and women's toilets which sit on a terrazzo floor about five feet (1.5m) above grade. Two handicapped accessible toilets were added on the east (back) side during an extensive refurbishing in 2008. It is well preserved, with most exterior parts either original or carefully matched to the original.[2] It was originally adjacent to a trolley rest stop, but the trolley and the restaurant pavilion are long gone. It now serves visitors to the Department of Conservation and Recreation's Trailside Museum and people climbing Great Blue Hill, at whose base it sits. The Trailside Museum is owned by DCR and operated by the Massachusetts Audubon Society through a 5-year permit agreement.[3]

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 25, 1980.[1]

Gallery

North side
 
South side
The gratings are not original. The portion to the right are handicapped accessible toilets, added in 2008.[2]
 
Chimney detail
 

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Staff (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 Pressley Associates (2008). Trailside Master Plan (PDF). Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. p. A.56.
  3. ↑ http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/dcr/pe/trailside/02-executive-summary.pdf
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, May 17, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.