The Charlestown Elevated began at the Canal Street incline, just north of Haymarket Square in the Bulfinch Triangle section of downtown Boston, Massachusetts.

There it turned east along Causeway Street to Tower C, the split with the Atlantic Avenue Elevated, then north over the Charlestown Bridge.

From there, the line turned northeast and crossed the Mystic River on a high bridge, then slowly descended to the ground-level Everett station.

[1] In 1917, the elevated was slated to be replaced with a more permanent subway line along the same Main Street routing, but this project was canceled by the US's entry into World War I.

[1] It was demolished in 1942 to provide steel for the war effort, though a short section was left from Tower C for laying over trains from the Charlestown Elevated.

Unlike the Washington Street Elevated, which was built at the same time with a similar design, the Charlestown El was located very near Boston Harbor and the Mystic River tidal estuary, and was thus continually exposed to accelerated corrosion caused by salt air.

In 1965, a promised removal of the elevated structure was part of a compromise deal by Edward J. Logue to secure local support of a planned redevelopment project.