View of Long Wharf and Custom House Tower from Boston Harbor

When choosing a site to investigate in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, it’s hard to pick just one place. Boston is arguably one of the most historical cities in the United States and is home to numerous historical landmarks such as Fenway Park, Boston Common, Faneuil Hall, and countless others. So when asked to choose a location to investigate I had to figure out some way to narrow down my options. The first thing that came to mind was the fact that the history of Boston is marked by events of incredible growth. Through large amounts of landfill, Boston has expanded from the original Shawmut peninsula to the city that we know and love today. Because this growth has played such a huge role in shaping Boston I decided to limit my options to locations which I thought would display evidence of that growth. Next, I began to think about the interconnectivity of the city. Knowing that Boston is home to the oldest subway system in the US, I would ideally pick a location which is home to a “T” stop. Lastly, I am fascinated by large structures and beautiful architecture so I’d hope to find a location which holds at least one interesting structure, preferably one which I don’t know much about.

Stone Compass at end of Long Wharf

All these criteria helped me narrow down my results and eventually helped me choose the location shown below as my final site. The site is bounded at the south by Milk Street, the west by India Street and Commercial Street, the north-west by South Market Street, and the remainder by the Harborwalk along the water.

Geographical location of Site

I chose this site for a number of reasons. First, I stated in my criteria that I wanted a site which would hopefully show the growth of Boston over the years. This site is perfect because I know that it was not part of the original Shawmut peninsula therefore it must have been added on at some point. Optimistically, I am hoping to find that pieces of this site were added in separate stages, which is probable due to the fact that my location is somewhat elongated perpendicular to the coast. However, even if the entire site was added around the same time I still expect to see growth pertaining to the usages of the different buildings within it. Next, I stated that I wanted a site related to a stop on the historic Boston “T” and as you can see, right in the center of my site is the Aquarium Station, part of the Blue line. I’m hoping that some research into when this particular station was built will give me some clues as to the use of this area as a whole and why city planners felt that it was deserving of a subway stop. My last criteria, was that I hoped to find a site with at least one interesting structure which I didn’t know much about. This site provides two and possibly even a third. The true reason that I picked this site was for the Custom House Clock Tower located on the westernmost edge of my site. I have seen this beautiful structure numerous times while visiting the harbor but I don’t know anything about its origination which I’m hoping will turn out to be very interesting. Also included in my site is the Boston Marriott Long Warf. I don’t know much about this structure other than that it looks very old and I’m hoping to find that it started out as something other than a rather strange looking hotel. The last structure is the New England Aquarium which seems to be much newer and hopefully will contribute to my investigation into the growth of the site as a whole.

New England Aquarium

The bonus with this site which I hadn’t really thought about as one of my criteria is the fact that, cutting right through the center, is the Rose Kennedy Greenway. I know this used to be the location of Boston’s “Main Artery” so this also should contribute to my investigation on the growth of this site.

Rose Kennedy Greenway with Custom House Tower in background

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