The Chestnut Hill Reservoir, now about 60 years old, is the main point of water storage for Boston and the Metropolitan District. This is where water is brought in from points west, such as Sudbury, Wachusett, and Quabbin. Originally it was set up by the City of Boston. The Brookline and Newton boundaries were readjusted so that the reservoir and its grounds would be entirely within the city limits (as they were when the reservoir was built, the water works were in Brookline, and the west basin was almost all in Newton). Now, however, the reservoir belongs to the Metropolitan District, and all cities and towns in the metropolis can use its water.

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        The Washington Street Tunnel is the only rapid transit line in America―or, for that matter, in the world, as far as we can find out―where stations have different names going in opposite directions. Northbound stations in that tunnel are called Essex, Summer, State and Union; while southbound stations are named Friend, Milk, Winter and Boylston. It has particularly been noticed that Summer and Winter stations are directly opposite each other, so that, when a train in one direction is at “Winter,” the train going the other way stops at “Summer.” The best way to remember this is that, when you are in “Summer,” you are bound north, while, when you are in “Winter,” you are bound south. There also seems to be some appropriateness in placing “Friend” opposite “Union.” This tunnel was also the origin of the idea―not much adopted elsewhere, though somewhat used in Philadelphia―of dropping such designations as “Street,” Avenue,” or “Square” in station names. This practice was never attempted before 1908, and such cities as New York or Chicago have never adopted it. Another idea worked out in the Washington Street Tunnel, and still followed in the subway stations in Cambridge, was to have differently colored signs in each station, so that the Union-Friend stations, for instance, have blue decorations and trimmings, while the Winter-Summer stations have red ones. State and Milk Stations (the green pair) are a fairly long distance apart, though there is a pedestrian passage under Washington Street connecting the two.

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        What business could bring you to 41 School Street? Political, probably. It is City Hall.

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        Who can name a Boston street with three double letters in its name? The name of the street is Willowwood, and it is located in Dorchester.

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