Charlestown Navy Yard: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Boston National Historical Park

NPS Northeast Regional Office

This CLI encompasses the 30-acre western portion of the Boston Naval Shipyard owned by the National Park Service, the Charlestown Navy Yard unit of Boston National Historical Park. It is located at the confluence of the Charles and the Mystic Rivers at the head of Boston Harbor in Charlestown, Massachusetts (a neighborhood of the City of Boston since 1874) in Suffolk County. The yard's location offers a protected marine setting with a deep shipping channel. Once a tidal marsh, the waterfront is now bounded by piers and seawalls over extensive fill. The topography of the yard is nearly level with a gentle rise along the northern edge where the Quarters G (Commandant's House) and Building I (Marine Barracks) are sited prominently. The broad east-west roads of the yard's grid are named “Avenues” in numerical order from south to north, while the narrower roads running north-south are named “Streets” in numerical order from west to east. The yard is divided into three general areas or zones: the upper yard; waterfront, and lower yard. The Boston NHP portion includes all of the upper yard, the western part of the waterfront, and Building 58 (Ropewalk), Building 60 (Public Works Storage), Building 105 (Forge), and Building 107 (Public Works Shop) within the lower yard. Historically the upper yard was residential and ceremonial, while today it hosts NPS functions and serves recreational, visitor use, and interpretational needs for the park. The waterfront was historically industrial with piers, dry docks, and related buildings and structures, while today it includes the berths of USS Constitution and USS Cassin Young (DD-793) and associated visitor facilities. The lower yard was also historically industrial but with larger manufacturing buildings, while today the park's few interests here support park offices or are vacant. While the shoreline setting that influenced the location of the Navy Yard remains, the setting surrounding the yard has changed greatly over time. The surroundings today reflect modernization of the twentieth century and include views to the Tobin Bridge and the skyline of Boston. The setting within the yard itself has also changed over time with technological advancements and reduced vegetation. Waterfront views remain the most significant given the site’s role in American history and include views southwest to Downtown Boston across Boston Harbor and northern views of the Bunker Hill Monument, the Tobin Bridge, and the park-like setting of the upper yard. The buildings and structures reflect the historical development of the yard with Federal and Classical styles of the nineteenth century. Within the park property, most of the historic prominent buildings remain with the exception of Building 97 (Main Gate), Building 198 (Supply Department Storage), and Building 136 (Marine Corps Administration). The lawns, trees, shrubs, and hedges of Building 265 (Married Officers Quarters B-F), Quarters G (Commandant's House), Building I (Marine Barracks), and Shipyard Mall in the upper yard evoke a sense of this area’s historic park character. First and Second Avenues lack the grand street trees that once arched over them. The historic core of the yard, the upper yard’s open, turf-covered space continues to provide recreational space to residents and visitors alike. Conversely, the hardscape of the piers, devoid of any vegetation, reflects their industrial character with cranes, USS Cassin Young (DD-793), USS Constitution, support structures, and small-scale features, such as capstans, bollards, keel blocks, steam lines, and shipbuilding supply pipes.

Charlestown Navy Yard: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Boston National Historical Park

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