East Boston Tunnel The Blue Line section of the station was built along with the rest of the East Boston Tunnel in the first years of the 20th century and opened on December 30, 1904, serving streetcars running from downtown to East Boston. Large bi-loading streetcars (with high floors but capable of loading from low platforms), which incorporated many attributes from metro cars used on the Main Line El, began use in 1905. However, neither these nor the large center-entrance cars introduced in 1917 (which were designed for
multiple unit operation) could fully handle the crowds. The next year, the BTD board approved the construction of high-level platforms at
Atlantic Avenue, Devonshire,
Scollay Under, and
Bowdoin. Construction of concrete high-level platforms above the rails at Devonshire began in December 1923 or January 1924. A section of low-level platform was left to serve streetcars during construction. The station was also extended by to accommodate the new trains, with work completed on March 1, 1924. Temporary wooden platform sections were put in place to allow service to begin on April 21, with the permanent concrete sections completed by July 12. The edges of the original low platforms can still be seen under the high platforms. On March 31, 1937, the BERy opened an entrance from the Exchange Building lobby to the eastbound platform. The entrance was closed around 1981 as the building was modified for construction of
Exchange Place.
Washington Street Tunnel The Washington Street Tunnel opened on November 30, 1908, to Main Line elevated trains running between and . As with the other stations in the tunnel; the two platforms were treated as completely separate stations. The northbound platform was known as
State since its main entrance was at the cross street of
State Street, while the southbound platform was similarly
Milk Street after its entrance from
Milk Street. (The station pair was designated on some maps as Milk/State). In 1971, the MBTA and
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston held a competition called "Design in Transit", with the winning work to be placed in the passageway to the southbound Orange Line platform. It attracted over 300 entries, many of which were criticized for being inappropriate for the setting: "spooky shadow play" that would scare riders already in a nervous atmosphere, and audio works that would add to the cacophony of the busy station. The
winning work by Robert V. Kennedy had swatches of bright rainbow colors with timed lighting; it was installed in 1972. That year, the agency received a federal grant that funded two-thirds of a $14.3 million modernization program for downtown stations. As part of that project, the MBTA investigated the feasibility of connecting , ,
Washington, and State with pedestrian tunnels. The MBTA proposed to make the City Hall (Adams Square) headhouse exit-only during budget cuts in 1981. In the mid-1980s, the MBTA spent $80 million to extend the platforms of seven Red Line and three Orange Line stations to allow the use of six-car trains. On October 16, 1985, the MBTA awarded a $5.03 million contract for the Orange Line work at State. Construction at State began that year and was completed in 1987. The project extended both Orange Line platforms (the shell of the northbound extension had been constructed during an earlier modernization project), and rebuilt the Milk Street entrance. Elevators were added from Milk Street to the southbound platform, and between the Orange Line platforms; this made both Orange Line platforms and the eastbound Blue Line platform accessible. (Until renovations at Haymarket and North Station in 2001, State was the closest accessible subway station to the
North Station commuter rail terminal.) Six-car trains entered service on August 18, 1987, shortly after the platform extensions were complete. The sponsorship failed and the name reverted to State. During the renovation of station, during which that station was closed, State was renamed temporarily
State/Aquarium from October 14, 2000, to October 29, 2001. The project added accessible Blue Line entrances at 53 State and 60 State, extended the Blue Line platforms for 6-car trains, and added a ramp between the inbound Blue Line platform and the northbound Orange Line platform. However, several factors prolonged the project and increased its cost. Keeping the station open during extensive underground construction proved more difficult than expected; support structures had to be drilled through centuries-old foundations and seawalls. The MBTA settled
a lawsuit over systemwide accessibility issues in 2006, which necessitated changes to the station design. The change from token payment to the
Charliecard system required closing the Blue Line level of the station from June 24 to July 1, 2006. A new between-levels elevator was completed in 2010 in lieu of replacing the existing elevator. The reconstruction of the station was substantially completed in 2011, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 26. In October 2011, a 1904 plaque that marked the completion of the East Boston Tunnel was reinstalled in the station. On June 24, 2019, the MBTA Board awarded a $29.7 million, 16-month contract for full cleaning, wayfinding signage replacement, and other improvements at
North Station,
Haymarket, State, and
Downtown Crossing stations. The work was completed in June 2021. The entire Orange Line, including the Orange Line platforms at State station, was closed from August 19 to September 18, 2022, during maintenance work. A "
Charlie Service Center" for MBTA customer service opened near the Old South Meeting House entrance on July 29, 2024, replacing the former CharlieCard Store at
Downtown Crossing station. In May 2020, the MBTA awarded a $8.7 million design contract for accessibility renovations at State and . Design work reached 30% completion in 2021 and 75% completion in 2022. In a separate project, the original between-levels elevator was replaced in situ in 2023. ==References==