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Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings

	BOSTON NAVAL SHIPYARD (Charlestown Navy Yard) part of Boston National Historical Park Massachusetts	Charlestown Navy Yard Boston National Historical Park
Suffolk County, at confluence of Charles and Mystic Rivers, in the Charlestown area, main entrance on Water Street, Boston; address: Boston National Historical Park Charlestown Navy Yard Boston, MA 02129. Boston National Historical Park

Significance. For more than a century and a half this shipyard, one of the Nation's oldest, has built, repaired, and serviced U.S. Navy vessels. It has also pioneered in shipbuilding techniques and made many innovations that have contributed to the development of the art.

In January 1797 Congress recommended the appropriation of funds for a shipyard in Boston. Three years later the Government purchased 23 acres of land on the waterfront there at a cost of $19,350, and about 1 year later began construction. By 1811 a commandant's quarters, brick storehouse, Marine barracks, and several other structures had been completed.

The yard has been commanded by a number of naval heroes. The first three commandants—Capt. Samuel Nicholson, Capt. William Bainbridge, and Capt. Isaac Hull—also commanded with distinction the U.S.S. Constitution, which had been launched at Boston in September 1797, a few years before the yard was founded. Appropriately enough therefore, the reconstructed Constitution (a Registered National Historic Landmark, described separately in this volume) is anchored today at the yard.

Throughout the years, workers at the yard have built and outfitted hundreds of ships. In 1813, 10 years after Paul Revere and Son recoppered the Constitution at the yard, they launched their first ship, the 18-gun sloop Frolic, and the next year the 74-gun Independence. The yard was particularly active during the War of 1812. About 1858 it launched the Hartford, which served as Adm. David G. Farragut's flagship during the Battle of Mobile Bay. Workers constructed numerous other vessels and outfitted many others for the Union during the Civil War. After the war, operations declined. During the two World Wars many ships were constructed and repaired, but since 1946 emphasis has been on conversion and repair work only.

The yard has also been responsible for major innovations in shipbuilding. In 1813 Captain Bainbridge built a shelter over the ways so that work could continue during inclement weather. Other U.S. shipyards subsequently erected shelters, as did also the British. In 1855 the yard launched the Merrimac, the Navy's first steam propeller-driven frigate—later converted into an ironclad by the Confederacy. In 1864 the yard launched the Monadnock, the first ironclad monitor to travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean; and, in 1874, the Intrepid, the Navy's first iron-hulled torpedo boat. Another important innovation at the yard, between 1827 and 1833, was the construction of a stone drydock. In this dock, in 1833-34, the Constitution was repaired and remodeled—the second man-of-war to be drydocked in the United States. Subsequently, workers enlarged and lengthened the dock, but the original section is still being used.

Boston Naval Shipyard is eligible for the Registry of National Historic Landmarks relating primarily to the development of commerce and industry.

The Commandant's House, Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston National Historical Park.

Present Appearance. Since its inception the yard has expanded over a large area in the historic Charlestown section of Boston. Between 1811 and 1840 the U.S. Navy acquired the major part of the present yard, though parts of the harbor have since been filled in. The yard once covered 201 acres and included 161 buildings, 21 miles of railroad, and numerous docks, piers, and shipways.

In the late 1960s, the yard was an interesting mixture of old and new buildings. The oldest, a three-story brick structure that stands at the entrance to the yard, dates from 1803. Originally used as a storehouse and sail loft, it housed an officers' club and bachelor officers' quarters. The commandant's house, dating from 1808-9 and reputedly designed by Charles Bulfinch, remains unchanged except for the later addition of a sun-porch. The interiors of both buildings have been altered extensively. Other early structures of interest include Dry Dock Number 1, dating from 1833; it and the drydock at Norfolk, Va., were the first in the country. The ropewalk, built in 1836, has a headhouse three stories high and contains machinery for rope manufacturing; for more than a century the U.S. Navy made all its rope in this building.

When the Charlestown Navy Yard closed in 1974 after nearly 175 years of serving the fleet, 30 acres became part of Boston National Historical Park. The National Park Service now maintains an important part of the ship yard, and as part of the Park Service's interpretive program, USS Constitution, in connection with the United States Navy, and USS Cassin Young are preserved as representatives of the kinds of vessels built in this yard. Together they represent a 200-year-old tradition of building fine ships for the Navy.

NHL Designation: 11/13/66