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View of the City of Boston PORT of BOSTON Commercial and Physical A\dvantages OSTON harbor is more than an ~ ordinary port. Its activities go “pack to the very beginning of American history. The progress that has been made since those early days in the development of the present modern port of Boston typifies those qualities of its people that have made New England what it is, and have enabled it to steadily advance, Associated with the commercial growth of the port are the romantic traditions of the beautiful islands that caused a royal visitor to remark to the mayor while viewing the har- bor ‘“‘There isn’t any place in the world that surpasses this panoramic view, and to think it is located at the very threshold of the homes of the great masses of people to enjoy.” In colonial days most of the islands were occupied as homesteads and much of the activity of the port cen- tered about them. Subsequently, many of them were fortified and con- stituted Boston’s chief defense to hostile encroachments from the sea. Some of these ancient fortifications, such as Castle island, Governor’s island and Fort Warren, have been earefully preserved and afford inter- esting comparisons with modern har- bor defenses. But their fascinating history, as portrayed in Patrick J. The author, Frank S. Davis, is mana- ger of the Maritime Association of the Boston Chamber of Commerce. 16 BY FRANK S. DAVIS* Connelly’s booklet, Islands of Boston Harbor, is not all that endears them to the people of Boston. From that day in September, 1629, when the beautiful islands caused the first ex- ploration party of white men under Capt. Myles Standish to enter the harbor in a small boat, they have been a most important factor in the development of the port because they form a natural breakwater and af- ford ample protection for all types of vessels from the small fishing and pleasure craft to the largest ocean going liners. Extensive Port Development No American seaport has under- gone a greater degree of transforma- tion than Boston, The present har- bor bears little resemblance to its original contour. Vast quarries of granite, hills of gravel, and whole forests were used in changing the wa- terfront. Walls, piers and causeways were constructed, extensive flats re- deemed, and the city’s acreage great- ly increased. Boston now covers an area of nearly 43 square miles com- pared with 785 acres when the trans- formation of the city was begun. Great improvements to the harbor were undertaken in 1902, by the gov- ernment; in 1912, a comprehensive program for the development of the harbor was started by the common- wealth. Up to date, more than $14,000,000 MARINE REVIEW—May, 1934 from the inner harbor have been expended by the federal government in the maintenance and improvement of Boston harbor chan- nels, and about $23,000,000 on the facilities of the port by the common- wealth of Massachusetts. No American seaport presents more interesting contrasts than the port of Boston. Along one section of the waterfront stand the massive granite warehouses constructed more than a century ago with the strength and permanence of the Rock of Gibraltar. In another part of the harbor are the Commonwealth pier and the great Army base, both rated among the world’s most modern tidewater ter- minals. Adjoining them is the mam- moth dry dock, the only one in this country capable of accommodating the largest liners, such as the Le- VIATHAN and MaAvrstic. On the oppo- site side of the harbor are marine railways, such as were commonly used years ago in the ‘‘schooner’’ era. The concrete tunnel extending un- der the harbor between the city prop- er and East Boston, passing directly under the custom house, is the first under-water tunnel of the kind con- structed in the United States, In the spring of 1934, an up-to-date two- lane vehicular tunnel will be dedicat- ed and put into commission. This will be the latest tunnel of the kind . constructed in this country, and thus the oldest and latest under water tunnels in the United States will be