It was a day for going up above Fort Hill in Roxbury

By adamg on Sun, 05/19/2024 - 7:31pm

Looking up at and through the standpipe steps.

The Roxbury Historical Society and the Boston Parks and Recreation Department opened the Cochituate Standpipe on Roxbury's Fort Hill for its annual public inspection.

People slowly made their way up the circular steps inside the 70-foot tower - which only briefly served its original purpose to store water from the Cochituate reservoir after it opened in 1869.

At the top of the stairs is a small platform - and windows:

Inside the top of the Cochituate Standpipe

The tower continues up beyond the platform, but not for visitors:

The stairs wind around a large, well, pipe, that just stands there, but once it would get filled with water:

When you first enter, there's a plaque honoring Henry Knox, who figured out how to get cannons from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston, for emplacement at forts surrounding Boston, including the one on what's now Telegraph Hill in South Boston - which convinced the British to leave - and a fortification on the Roxbury hill that later became home to the Cochituate Standpipe:

Plaque honoring Henry Knox, who got the cannons to Boston that convinced the British to leave

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Comments

Thank you!

By mg on Sun, 05/19/2024 - 8:37pm.

Great pictures - what a view! Thank you for making the climb and sharing it with us.

Thanks!

By adamg on Sun, 05/19/2024 - 9:37pm.

I have to admit the climb up was a bit hard, because the steps are not a solid thing, but rather a series of metal planks bolted into the actual standpipe and the outer wall, so you see through them and down, which was disconcerting for a flatlander like me. There was a railing on the left side of the stairs (going up), so I held onto that when there was nobody going down.

Going down, the stairs appear to be solid, so it was much easier. I noticed some people going up were having the same issue I did; I'd move to the left and let them keep holding onto the railing.

It felt like a forever stair climb

By Ron Newman on Mon, 05/20/2024 - 1:10pm.

more strenuous than at my other two favorite towers, Prospect Hill in Somerville and Washington Tower in Mount Auburn Cemetery. I'm glad I stopped to eat at Butterfly Cafe in Roxbury Crossing before trying this. (Climbing the short block of Cedar Street on bike, from Columbus Avenue to Fort Avenue, is also quite a workout.)

We walked over and up from Jackson Square

By adamg on Mon, 05/20/2024 - 4:47pm.

Afterwards, we took the train back to Forest Hills (I'd parked on Hyde Park Avenue) and restored our energy levels with some samosas and chicken tikka masala at Tikki Masala.

My photos

By Ron Newman on Sun, 05/19/2024 - 8:52pm.

I took some as well, which you can see here:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/YaqDzQhmX4HxVYE88

I missed it again, maybe next

By enigmue on Tue, 05/21/2024 - 6:10pm.

I missed it again, maybe next year