Cultural Landscape Report for Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston

INTRODUCTION
referenced by the HRS. The HRS recommends a future CLR be completed for the remainder of the yard where the
NPS has gained oversight responsibilities with land transfers subsequent to the 1974 establishment of the park. Two
other recent studies are referenced several times in this report, a pavement study completed in 1995 and a lighting
study completed in 1997. Earlier studies that also pertain to the development of the cultural landscape report
include: the park’s statement for management and general management plan (1980, revised 1987); various historic
structure reports for buildings and structures (1980s-1990s); and the historic grounds management report (1985).
HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
The Site History section, chapters 1-8, describes the evolution of the Charlestown Navy Yard landscape in eight
periods based on major political, technological, and social change as outlined below in Table 1. Chapters 2-7 span
the yard’s 174-year period of significance, 1800-1974. Chapters 2, 4, and 7 each also represent one of the nine
subperiods of significance as proposed within the Analysis of Significance and Integrity section, chapter 10. Chapters
3, 5, and 6 each encompass two of the nine proposed subperiods of significance.
Table 1. The eight chapters of the Site History section, chapters 1-8.
Title Period Description
1. Settlement of Charlestown 1630 - 1800 From Native American inhabitation of the area, through
and War for Independence
settlement of the Charlestown peninsula by the
Massachusetts Bay Company, and the War for
Independence.
2. Establishment of the Navy Yard 1800-1828* From the establishment of the Navy Yard through the early
1820s.
3. Development of the Yard 1828 - 1869** From implementation of a master plan, the transition to
steam-powered vessels, and the Civil War.
4. Post Civil War 1869 - 1898* From a period of relatively little activity, through the Navy
Appropriations Act of 1890, and the partial modernization
of the yard to build, repair, and outfit steel ships leading to
the authorization of Dry Dock 2 in 1898.
5. Revival of the Yard and World 1898- 1934** From the outbreak of the Spanish-American War through
War I
World War I, a post-war period of modernization, and
subsequent inactivity.
6. Works Progress Administration 1934 - 1945** From the improvements made by the WPA, through a
and World War II
period of shipbuilding and expansion during World War II.
7. Cold War Era 1945 - 1974* From the end of World War II, through the Korean and
Vietnam Wars and the Cold War until the yard’s closure.
8. Yard Closure and National 1974 - Present From the transfer of the yard to the National Park Service
Historical Park
and Boston Redevelopment Authority to the present.
*Chapter represents one of the nine subperiods of significance for the Charlestown Navy Yard as proposed in chapter 10.
**Chapter encompasses two of the nine subperiods of significance for the Charlestown Navy Yard as proposed in chapter 10.
The Charlestown Navy Yard is one of the six original yards established by the U.S. Navy in 1800. The yard was a
center for building, refitting, and servicing ships, and a manufacturing site for several essential products for the
Navy, most notably rope in the nineteenth century and die-lock chain in the twentieth century. During the Colonial
period, the site was at the base of a sparsely populated drumlin and field east of the town center, known as
Moulton’s Hill and Moulton’s Point Field, and bounded by a marsh and tidal flats. During the War for
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