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Port of Boston

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Container ship being unloaded at Conley Terminal.
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Container ship being unloaded at Conley Terminal.

The Port of Boston is the largest seaport in Massachusetts as well as a major seaport along the east coast of the United States. The port contains facilities located along Boston Harbor, notably in the neighborhoods of Charlestown, East Boston, and South Boston.

Contents

Geography

The port facilities are located along Boston Harbor, [42.36° N 71.042° W], a major estuary in the northeastern United States near Boston. Constituting the western extremity of Massachusetts Bay, the harbor is formed by the mouths of the Mystic River from the north, the Charles River from the west, and the Chelsea River from the northeast. The harbor is split into the Inner Harbor and Outer Harbor by East Boston and Logan International Airport. Several islands, many of which are part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area, are located within the harbor.

Cargo and statistics

In 2004, the port handled almost 14 million metric tons of cargo including about 175,000 container TEUs.[link] Other major forms of cargo processed at the port include petroleum, liquefied natural gas (LNG), automobiles, cement, gypsum, and salt. There are about 200,000 cruise ship passengers and 100 cruise ship visits each year. [link]

Port facilities

Ground transportation

The Port of Boston has access to I-90, I-93, I-95, and US 1. On-dock rail connections as well as a rail yard in the Boston neighborhood of Brighton serve the port.

Massport facilities

The public facilities, operated by the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport), are located in the neighborhoods of Charlestown, East Boston, and South Boston. Charlestown contains facilities for bulk cargo as well as for automobile shipping and processing while East Boston contains a shipyard and marina. The majority of Massport's seaport facilities are in South Boston, which contains facilities for bulk cargo, containers, seafood, and cruise ship passengers.

Non-Massport facilities

Aside from a US Coast Guard facility, the Port of Boston has facilities dedicated to bulk cargo, petroleum, and LNG shipment and storage. These are primarily located on the Mystic River, notably along the city of Everett waterfront as well as the Chelsea River area of East Boston. The Chelsea River depots also contain facilities handling jet fuel for Logan International Airport.

The naval frigate USS Constitution ("Old Ironsides") is berthed at the former Charlestown Navy Yard, now part of the Boston National Historical Park. A nearby World War II era dry dock was used for her 1992 overhaul. Two other WW II era drydocks in the harbor are still operational (as of 2005), including Dry Dock Number 3 — the largest dry dock on the U.S. East Coast.

Water taxis operate from various points on the downtown Boston waterfront, Logan Airport, Charlestown, East Boston, and South Boston. The MBTA operates commuter boats between Long Wharf and Rowes Wharf on the downtown Boston waterfront to Hingham, Hull, Quincy, and Logan Airport as well as inner harbor ferries between downtown Boston, Charlestown, and South Boston. There are tourist excursions and a ferry to Provincetown.

History

Before the colonization of the Americas, the area served as a trading post for Native Americans in the region. After the establishment of the Boston settlement by John Winthrop in 1630 and the creation of a local shipbuilding industry, the port served the rapidly expanding American colonies. During that time, trade involved finished goods from England in exchange for lumber, fully constructed vessels, rum, and salted fish.

With the rapid growth of the Mid-Atlantic colonies in the 1750s, the ports of New York and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania began to surpass Boston for inter-colony trade. In response, Bostonian merchants established trade with foreign nations besides Great Britain. This trade led to a huge increase in wealth amongst Bostonian merchants. However, the British government's imposition of regulations restricting trade to Great Britain, combined with newly enacted taxes on the colonists, caused Bostonian merchants to join the more radical elements in American society. After the Boston Tea Party, the British Parliament passed the Boston Port Act which shut down the port until the East India Company was compensated for the damaged tea. These actions led to the American Revolutionary War.

Though economically devastated by the Revolutionary War, the Port of Boston was again prospering with trade with various foreign ports such as Shanghai. The port's fortunes were further augmented with a navy base at Charlestown. By the mid-1800s, the shipbuilding industry reached its peak as displayed by the clipper ships developed by Donald McKay. The port also saw many land reclamation projects and the construction of new piers.

With the start of the Industrial Revolution in the United States, activity in the port turned towards trade between the states. Starting in the mid-1800s, the Port of Boston was eclipsed yet again by other eastern seaboard ports such New York City as local merchant companies were bought out by New York businessmen. In 1956, control of the port was handed to the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport), which began the process of modernizing the port. During the 1980s and 1990s, a project dedicated to the cleanup of Boston Harbor was overseen by the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority (MWRA).

In 1966, Sea-Land introduced containerized shipping and later established one of the first container ports on Castle Island, where Conley Terminal now stands. To meet the growing demand for container shipping, Massport constructed a common-use container port on what is now Moran Terminal. However, the port faced a setback with the closure of the Charlestown Navy Yard in 1974.

In the mid-1990s, the port went through another round of modernization. Container shipping operations were consolidated at Conley Terminal while Moran Terminal was dedicated to automobile shipping. A project of dredging the harbor commenced in 1997. Through the Central Artery/Tunnel Project (Big Dig), ground access to the South Boston facilities were improved with the extension of I-90 and the construction of the Ted Williams Tunnel linking South Boston with Logan International Airport. The port has also seen a burgeoning cruise industry as well as expanding commercial and residential developments on the Boston waterfront.

In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, there have been concerns about the security of LNG shipments within Boston Harbor, and increased fear of terrorism. As of 2005, there have been proposals to place an offshore LNG facility located in Massachusetts Bay.

References

External links

 

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