Reviews of Metropolitan Waterworks Museum (Museum)

Sarah Don

Fantastic museum. Free with suggested donation of $5. Free tours with knowledgeable guides too (see tour times on the website). Free parking on site.

James McDonough

Small but worth a look. Wish you could see the engines up closer.

Alissa Butler

Such a cool museum. The engines are huge and awe inspiring

Borle M S

It is ground water storage reservoir, good place to walking and running

Naomi Sumi

We had a great tour guide

Rob Morris

Sucks

Stavros Macrakis

Amazing museum, the former Boston waterworks pumping station. Three enormous steam engines and pumps in a beautiful building. Free admission.

Alistair Duffy

Absolute hidden gem. Well worth a visit.

Christopher Calandra

Very cool venue for a wedding.

Jasmine K

A must see!

Carol Nathan

A good place to visit on a rainy Sunday afternoon

Jeremy Valadez

Beautiful location for a wedding or a large party!

Sean MacEvoy

Great museum if you're interested in huge machinery. (Which I am.)

Rob Bond

I went to the Waterworks Museum one Saturday. I didn't know what to expect going in but was pleasantly surprised by what I found. The staff were very friendly and knowledgeable about the history of Boston's water supply. One of the volunteers, Damian, gave us an hour long tour of the huge water-pumping machinery. His enthusiasm really added a lot to the experience. Inside, there are some very impressive video displays and posters. It's obvious that a lot of work went into turning the old pumping station into a museum. 10-year-old me would been blown away by the three-story pumps and cranks. Kids with an interest in machines would definitely like this place. It isn't very large, so you only need about an hour to see everything. I think the museum would get more visitors if they highlighted the huge pumps on their signs. If I had known how interesting it would be, I would have gone sooner.

Wan-Yu Chuang

Nice place to know more about water engineering

mauricio pozuelo

Impresionantes motores a vapor, vale la pena.

Shawn Pitman

Best wedding venue I've ever been to. It's the most I've ever learned while dancing, getting drunk, and celebrating.

Clint Haris

hidden gem. A great find!

Meg Rosenburg

What a neat place and unique experience!

Manfredatee

The three large steam engines are fantastic and the informational displays are both accurate and engaging. Check out the building itself too - it's a classic of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture from 1887.

Francesca Gordini

When at Chestnut Hill, you shouldn't miss the opportunity of venturing in a museum containing some engineering masterpieces. Simply enjoy a breath-taking experience while learning how tap-water made it to Boston's homes for quite a long time.

Peter Gilligan

Amazing place. The entire building is a work of art.

Hui Bai

This often overlooked museum is no less impressive than many other attractions in Boston. It features 3 water pumps that used to provide water for Boston

Tom Jackson

Very supportive

Curtis

Great place to learn history of water in Boston

Billy Stephen

Great museum, very interesting.

S.M. Chen

(Translated by Google) Understanding water resources, making it difficult to save water (Original) 了解水資源 取得不易 節約用水

Tim Ross

Very interesting

Matan Hofree

Looks like the perfect set for the filming of a Batman showdown with the Joker.

Thomas Baca

Always friendly and interesting!

陳信宏

Awesome and free

Lisa Maxwell-Rounds

Very interesting place. The staff is very knowledgeable. Great location. Parking can be a challenge.

Brian Greenaway

A+ wedding venue. Unique, spacious without feeling too big, plenty of room for everything you'd want.

Sharon Gregory

I have no idea, if the information at this museum was interesting. There are no kid activities. My children were not engaged. This is geared for adults.

Jeff MacDonald

Fascinating story of how they got water from the reservoirs to the big city back in the day. The pumps are immense and a wonder to behold. And the building is an architectural gem. Our guide, Joe, was delightful and full of interesting, detailed stories. Best of all: it's free!

Piotr Nowak

Giant steam engines and pumps. What else can one wish for?

Boris Shnayder

Very nice

Yomna Adel

Nice historical place, friendly staff, some days have planned activities for kids

Justin Libby

If you like all things steampunk, this is the museum for you. Pipes and wrenches and brass and valves everywhere. Not a big museum, maybe 60 to 90 minutes of content. But the plaques and videos are informative. Worth one visit. Maybe have your wedding here.

Idan Frumkin

Small, but super cool

b lyons

Wonderful restoration and very knowledgeable volunteers. Kids area upstairs a bonus but a kids scavenger hunt would be fun.

Nina Jordan

Interesting for architecture, engineering, and history of water sources! Also interesting to learn about and compare the past to the present method of getting fresh drinking water to Boston. One gets to see (up close) three antique very large steam engines used for pumping water. And each one was configured differently. Ask questions of the docents who are willing to talk to you and watch the short videos available. Only takes 1 to 2 hours.

Lawrence Clifford

Epic mech!

robert nowak

Private tour. Entrancing history and machines.

Valentina Suveico

Great place to learn about where Boston area has been getting municipal water. If there is a guide available, use their service to lean the history and mechanical details. Greatly recommend this place young and a adults.

Lem Lanier

Interesting

James Kasischke

Interesting museum showing public w orks history in Boston. Guide was very knowledgeable.

Alex Richter

Go see this awe inspiring relic from Boston's golden age. Definitely ask for the tour, which is free (but make a little donation). This is the coolest not-so-hidden gem I've visited in Boston in a long time, and was blown away by the breadth and depth of knowledge from the tour guides. If you're into engineering, steampunk, history, or want to know anything about where and how we get our water, you'll thoroughly enjoy this. Also, there's free parking, and it wasn't busy at all on a Sunday afternoon.

Duojin Wang

Historical and informative, I was surprised to find that admission was free of charge. The pictures on the wall showed the history of creating this urban reservoir. When I walked around the machinery and displays, I thought this would make a great wedding venue for Steampunk people. I think it's one of the best managed hidden gems in Boston.

Gleison Correia

this museum has the machines that pumped water to supply city Boston a long time ago. These machines are disabled but everything is well maintained. In this place they tell the story of when it still worked

josh blumental

Really great spot!!! Make sure to get a tour from Marty, he loves to geek out on pump tech. It’s amazing to see the 3 generations of pumps next to each other.

PunkAndOtherStuff -

Beautiful place with huge structures of the US’s first waterworks system. Staff is very nice and Non-Event hosts shows here every so often so if you’re into free jazz or improv definitely come in here.

Robert Funke

Good place to see how things worked before "our" time.

howard schlein

Small museum with excellent descriptive information and helpful docents.

Steve Hellmann

A bit unknown among the many tourist attractions of Boston, the waterworks museum offers a peek into late 29th century engineering.

Ruan Peat

Fab place to visit with the history laid out and some hands on to play with.

Morgan Baker

I really enjoyed it! Tue exhibits were really cool and the staff very knowledgeable!

Daniel Simard

Amazing steam machines, guides are really knowledgeable.

Ellen Arnstein

Such a near space! The tour was accessible for a non-engineer and very interesting!

Memegod11

My teacher took my entire grade on the most boring field trip to the most boring place ever.

Todd Jennings

Nice and free, but small.

Alexander Sudyn

An incredibly well put together museum. Beautiful exhibits with an interesting and well presented history and wonderfully helpful and informative staff. I left with a newfound love of public water systems that I never knew I had!

Robin Walters

One of my favorite places in Boston! The steam engines are absolutely works of art. The tour is interesting and the staff are friendly.

Bill Laird

Did you know Boston has some of the cleanest water in the country? No chemicals used to clean. If you are a fan of old school feats of mechanical engineering, visit the waterworks museum in Chestnut Hill and see what these amazing engineers did to support the growth of Boston. Plan 1 hour, 2 hours if you are really curious.

Abby Ying Li

Fascinating place to visit for a casual afternoon. It's informative and well designed with staffs explaining thing very well. Interesting to know about the story of Boston's water system establishment and expansion. And it's cool to understand a little more about engineerings and machines.

Mason M

Super cool!

Jennifer Phan

You can learn a lot from just a quick visit here. They do tours, parking is free, and so is admission.

Keith Barros

Great free tour. Definitely worth checking out. Good photo ops

J M

Interesting industrial history in a bucolic setting. Pretty straight forward limited exhibit.

Charles Ramsay

Worth a visit.

Hien Nguyen

A stream punk heaven. Intricate pipes, valves, gears band mysterious contraptions. Interesting history of how Boston used to get it's water. Free but with a requested donation of $5 per person (but you're not obligated to pay)

Eliav Haskal

Wow

Konstantin Mikhailov

Cool spot, quite literally during the summer, but also very educational for the kids. Four types of steam engine pumps preserved and displayd.

Gregory Orzolek

Its a must for engineering and history buffs

Matt Fratantonio

Really cool place. A must see!

Shilo Geva

Wonderful people!

T Golden

They advertise the Museum as free and then repeatedly pressure you to make a $5 contribution per person. I visited several times and always had the same problem. Five dollars is reasonable but then advertise it as having a $5 suggested donation, not free. Also guides will not allow you to just spend fifteen minutes there. They put extreme pressure on you to listen to them for 45 minutes or more. Still it is an excellent museum with dedicated volunteer guides and for that reason I give it four stars, not less.

smile face

Very historic, as you can learn about Americas first public water pumping station. Might be boring for some, but surprisingly my son was very intrigued by the massive machinery inside! It's a free museum with an excellent walking trail across the street at chestnut hill reservoir. Definately a great inexpensive family experience.

Michiel Niesen

Very interesting museum. It is basically an old water pumping facility, with beautiful steam powered machinery. The pictures of the works on the reservoir were fascinating to me.

Layla Asgar

Very interesting. Worth to visit

P K

Amazing example of Victorian craftsmanship.

Pauls Android

Sweet mix of Steampunk, civil engineering, and history. We're lucky to have it available and preserved.

Rainbow The Macaw

What a great museum. The people were welcoming, and happy to answer our questions. The man doing the tour was great. He knew lots of great history and more. Great museum for all ages.

Victoria Gabbidon

Very unique.

Oliver Schaefer

A really nice place if you like old construction and engineering. It's a non profit organization based on donations and thetours are really informative. They adopt them even to the visitor.

Eduardo Herrera

No hay necesidad de pagar en este museo, puede dar dinero voluntario aunque yo considero que $5 no esta mal y mejor aun cuando hay visita guiada y con personal amable.

John Wiesemann

This place is one of a kind. It is filled with giant old steam engines!

canjepuPK

Stuff is amazing and very helpful. They want to explain you how does engine works even if you only guest in museum.

Ernesto J. Silva

Beautiful museum with gigantic engine displays.

Oleg Tumarkin

Great free museum for technically minded kids. A nice community room with things for kids to do.

Swati Maini

Loved the experience

cat wu

Such a cool and informative museum. The staff especially Steve and Sally perfectly explained everything and answered all of the questions. It was really impressive how knowledgeable they were. The machinery itself was amazing to look at and fascinating to learn about. I will definitely be recommending this place to others. It's free!

Laura Kay Gross

Fascinating equipment, knowledgeable docents, beautiful building and grounds

Anthony Pride

I would always pass by it but never knew what it was really about until I decided to just go in and take a look and my goodness! I was just astonished by the history of how water was pumped and primed in the old times.

Vinnie McMahon

Was just walking around the reservoir and noticed this. Went in for free and wow, the old gigantic water pumps are impressive, it's amazing to see how things used to be done and how long this plant was actually used.

Walter Meyer

Huge beautiful old steam driven water pumps. Clear animations showing how they work and some historical perspective. Friendly and helpful staff.

Robert Kurkjian

Great history and machinetu

Somer Andom

Informative tour. What a fascinating piece of Boston history!

William Hamilton

Set up so you van walk right up to the big machinery and through the place. Your perspective is kinda in the middle so you can look up and down. Neat.

Rob Hnasko

You must go to this museum. It is a great part of history that could have been demolished to add even more luxury condo's to the neighborhood. Very knowledgeable staff tours and video production.

Carlos Madrid

Beautiful place

Aynan Zaman

Nice place to go see for a short, quiet, chill, relaxing, calm time. Just something interesting to see. Nothing super fun or something like that, just a bit quiet time to think and wonder at what you see.

Roland Faas

Faszinierend diese Technik.Ein muss in Boston.wir besuchen MWW immer wieder. Anschließend auch das Kennedy Museum in der Nähe besuchen.

Shivika Nayyar

We loved our visit to this amazing piece of history. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and friendly.

Anne T

Very interesting. Informative staff.

Matt Ludwig

Excellent museum. The machinery is so impressive.