Community College station

Thompson Square station around 1970

For much of the 19th century, the four major northside railroads (the Fitchburg, Boston and Lowell (B&L), Boston and Maine (B&M), and Eastern) did not share any trackage on the approach to Boston.[3] (Not until North Union Station in 1893 did they share a depot).[4] At that time, Charlestown was separated from East Cambridge by a large cove, Millers River. The Fitchburg crossed the B&M and the Eastern at Prison Point (then the site of a substantial state prison), near the modern location of Community College station. The Fitchburg and B&M had substantial freight depots nearby, and the B&M briefly had a Charlestown station around the 1850s.[3][5][4] The Fitchburg's Charlestown station was to the west nearer East Cambridge: at what is now Linwood Street by the 1850s, and near what is now Water Street (near the Commuter Rail Maintenance Facility) by the 1890s.[6][3][7] (For some period after the Boston terminal replaced the Charlestown terminal in 1848, however, a flag stop was made at the Prison Point Bridge.)[4]

The Charlestown Elevated section of the Boston Elevated Railway's Main Line opened in June 1901, with three elevated stations in Charlestown. The Thompson Square station was located one-third of a mile east of the current station along Austin Street at Main Street, while the City Square station was located half a mile south along Rutherford Avenue at Chelsea Street. The elevated was unpopular with many local residents, as it was noisy and blocked out sunlight to Main Street. In 1917, the elevated structure was slated to be replaced with a more permanent subway line along the same Main Street routing, but this project was canceled by the US's entry into World War I.[8]

The unused east platform in 2013

In the late 1960s, the MBTA began work on the Haymarket North Extension project. It included a tunnel segment north from Haymarket through a new underground stop at North Station, then under the Charles River to a portal south of the Gilmore Bridge. From there, the extension was built along the Haverhill Line commuter rail right of way. Community College station was built to replace the two elevated stops nearby in Charlestown. The new route opened to Sullivan Square on April 7, 1975.[9] The Main Line had previously been renamed as the Orange Line in 1967, as part of a systemwide rebranding by the newly formed MBTA.

Like the Sullivan Square and Wellington stations, Community College was built with a second island platform serving the outbound track plus a third express track. This extra infrastructure was to be used for the Orange Line's planned extension to Reading to replace commuter rail service on the line. (Continuing commuter rail service to Andover and Haverhill was to be via the Wildcat Branch). However, the Orange Line extension was cut short to Oak Grove due to local opposition in Melrose, and no express service ever ran. The second platform is open for outbound passengers at busy Sullivan Square and Wellington, but at less-busy Community College it sits unused.

Unlike the four other original stations on the Haymarket North Extension, Community College was not built with a busway. Bus routes in East Cambridge already terminated at Lechmere station to the west, while Charlestown routes 92 and 93 already extended to Haymarket station along historic streetcar routings.[9] Routes 111 and 112, which had terminated at City Square, were not extended to Community College; route 111 was instead extended to Haymarket, while route 112 was rerouted to Maverick.[9] In December 1975, outbound trips on route 92 were rerouted to Rutherford Avenue between Austin Street and School Street to serve BHCC and the station. However, it returned to its previous routing by December 1977.[9][10] In 1987, the MBTA considered construction of a parking garage at the station.[11]

The station was not originally accessible. An elevator to the main platform, reached by a footbridge between the platforms, was constructed as part of the Big Dig. Bidding took place in 2002.[12] Shaft framework was installed for the unused second platform, but no elevator machinery was installed. The renovations were completed around 2005.[13]