7 wonders - nominations #30 and #31

by Bobby Blair

The Highway Department recently cleared dead Japanese knotweed and several low hanging branches along the Winthrop Canal which crosses under Water Street to make the Mudville Arch Water Tunnel visible. Part of the now-abandoned railroad bed, several of these tunnels exist along Holliston’s length of former rail tracks, the Mudville Tunnel now being the most visible. This nomination was sent in by Brett Morrison.

Four miles up the abandoned tracks in Braggville, another stone edifice endures albeit covered in tons of dirt. Not far (150 yards) from the intersection of South Street and Fisher lays entombed the Fisher Street Underpass. Formerly the underpass connected both ends of Fisher Street, yet why it was covered over is anyone’s guess. Barely visible, the underpass, probably similar in size and shape to the Arch Street Bridge, was replaced when the road traversed over the tracks.  Perhaps the underpass was covered due to safety concerns with heavy trains passing overhead.  A future project may be to unearth this
stone work of art.

This section of the abandoned rail bed from Hopping Brook Park to South Street is privately owned and the Rail Trail Committee hopes to someday make it part of the Rail Trail system from Sherborn to Milford. The underpass nomination was sent in by Richard Kampersal who grew up at Kampersal’s Diary on Fisher Street.