Gilman Square station
light rail station in Somerville, Massachusetts
Gilman Square station is a light rail station on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line located at Gilman Square in Somerville, Massachusetts. The accessible station has a single island platform serving the two tracks of the Medford Branch. It opened on December 12, 2022, as part of the Green Line Extension (GLX), which added two northern branches to the Green Line, and is served by the E branch.
The location was previously served by railroad stations. The Boston and Lowell Railroad (B&L) opened a station at Winter Hill in 1863; it was rebuilt in 1886–1888. The station was served by the Boston and Maine Railroad, successor to the B&L, until 1937. Extensions to the Green Line were proposed throughout the 20th century, most with Winter Hill as one of the intermediate stations. A Gilman Square station at the Winter Hill site was officially chosen for the GLX in 2008. Cost increases triggered a wholesale reevaluation of the GLX project in 2015, and a scaled-down station design was released in 2016. A design and construction contract was issued in 2017.
The public source identifies “Gilman Square station” as light rail station in Somerville, Massachusetts. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Gilman, Square and station.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Gilman Square station”, the useful work is to connect “light rail station in Somerville, Massachusetts” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5562479. Authority coordinates are 42.388, -71.097. None of the 2 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2022, 1863, 1886 and 1888.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Gilman Square station”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Gilman Square station primary sources, Gilman Square station archive and Gilman research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Gilman Square station”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Gilman Square station” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.