Mattapan

Why go

Mattapan is one of Boston’s most residential neighborhoods and home to a large African American and Caribbean community, including one of the largest Haitian communities in Massachusetts. It has no big museums or tourist strips. What it does have is worth the trip: a streetcar line still running 1940s trolleys, a 67-acre wildlife sanctuary, paved trails along the Neponset River, and a main street where you can eat your way through the Caribbean.

It suits curious visitors and locals looking for a different half day: people who like transit history, birds, river walks and good takeout. If you want nightlife or a dense walkable grid of shops, you will be happier downtown. Treat Mattapan as a destination for a morning or afternoon, and combine it with Dorchester or a walk on the Neponset River Greenway.

Getting around

The Mattapan Line runs from Ashmont through Cedar Grove and Butler, dips into Milton for four stops, and ends at Mattapan station. Every stop except Valley Road is accessible. The ride from Ashmont takes about 10 minutes. The Fairmount Line Commuter Rail stops at Blue Hill Avenue and Morton Street, with direct trains to South Station.

From Mattapan station, the 28 runs up Blue Hill Avenue to Nubian and Ruggles, the 29 to Jackson Square, and the 30 and 31 to Forest Hills. Bluebikes has docks at Mattapan station, the Mattapan library and along Blue Hill Avenue. The Greenway is flat and good for easy riding or walking.

When to go

Spring and fall are the best seasons at the Boston Nature Center for migrating birds, and summer brings the gardens into bloom. The trolley ride is best in daylight, when you can see the cemetery and river, and the Greenway is at its best in fall color.

The trolleys sometimes give way to shuttle buses for track work or when a car is out of service. If the ride itself is the point of your trip, check the MBTA’s Mattapan Line alerts first.

A short history

Mattapan was the Massachusett name for the Dorchester area, and the Mattahunt people lived here in the early 1600s. Mattapan grew up as part of the Town of Dorchester and became part of Boston when Dorchester was annexed in 1870. The trolley line opened in 1929, converted from an old railroad branch.

For much of the early 20th century, Blue Hill Avenue and Mattapan Square were the center of a largely Jewish neighborhood. In the 1960s and 1970s, redlining, blockbusting and a bank lending program known as B-BURG fueled panic selling and rapid turnover, and Mattapan became home to a large Black community. Haitian immigrants arrived in large numbers from the 1980s. The Boston State Hospital closed in 1979, and part of its land became the Boston Nature Center.

Local tips

• Make it a loop: Red Line to Ashmont, trolley to Mattapan, a walk on the Greenway boardwalks, lunch on Blue Hill Avenue, then the 28 bus back toward Nubian.
• The trolley is priced as rapid transit, like the Red Line, so it is an easy add-on to a Dorchester day.
• Leave the dog at home for the Nature Center; walk it on the Greenway instead.
• If you need step-free access, avoid Valley Road, the one Mattapan Line stop that is not accessible.