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 History The Hub Of Colonial Trade Boston is the oldest continually active major port in the Western Hemisphere. Though it did not become an international cargo port until 1630, for at least four thousand years previously, it had served as a settlement and trading area for native American tribes. After the Massachusetts Bay Colony was formed, the port became a very busy place. Concerned about their utter dependence on British trading ships, they sought greater independence by starting a vigorous shipbuilding industry of their own, and began to establish independent trading links with other colonies and countries to the north and south. For most of the century, Boston was America's largest and busiest port, serving the rapidly expanding colonies with imports of English finished goods in exchange for exports of lumber, fully constructed vessels, rum and salted fish. Tides of Revolution By the 1750's rapid growth in the mid-Atlantic colonies allowed Philadelphia and then New York to eclipse the Port of Boston in total volume. In response to these changes, Boston instead concentrated on developing a far flung foreign trading network that brought wealth, culture and influence to the "Athens of America." A portion of this wealth was created by the infamous "triangle route" in which sugar was brought to Boston to be made into rum which was then traded for slaves in Africa, who were then transported to West Indies sugar plantations to produce sugar for Boston's distilleries. The great increase in Massachusetts wealth caused England's large population of merchant traders companies to grow jealous, and they demanded that the Colonies exclusively trade with the "mother" country. It was their subsequent attempt to prevent Boston's merchants from engaging in world trade that stirred Boston's middle-class to join the more radical elements in calling for revolution. Eventually, a series of escalating events, most on or near Boston Harbor, culminated in an armed confrontation in the nearby town of Lexington which formally began the American Revolution. Gateway to the Young Nation Boston enjoyed robust growth as the American republic began to exercise its hard-won freedom to re-engage in world trade. Although the port and fleet were devastated by the British during their wartime occupation, the fleet was rebuilt into fast deepwater trading ships. Soon American-flagged ships, manned by Boston sea captains, were seen from Shanghai to Tripoli. The profits from these ventures built Beacon Hill townhouses, and began the huge projects to fill in Boston's Back Bay and South Bay districts. With the start of the industrial revolution in nearby Waltham and Pawtucket, the nation's commercial interests and investments turned inward. As international trade became a less significant part of the economy, the port responded by becoming a major center for coastwise trade. Raw cotton and wool, cane sugar and turpentine were brought north and then turned into finished goods to be sent back south or exported to Europe. It was in the mid-century that Boston's shipyards reached their apex, as Boston-born Donald McKay, developed and refined his famous clipper ships to become the fastest commercial sailing ships in world history. Portal to the Industrial Heartland The late nineteenth century became a time of economic expansion and seaport retrenchment. The port was prosperous, but the local control of shipping lines and the great trading houses which supported them, began to be wrested by New York's new breed of millionaire barons. So too, international trade began to be overwhelmingly concentrated in the Port of New York. In addition, Boston's shipbuilding industry virtually collapsed as the craft-oriented wooden shipyards failed to adapt to the assembly-line techniques of iron and steam-powered ship construction. As the downtown waterfront began to deteriorate, railroad companies built new port facilities on the rapidly expanding filled waterfront of South Bay and East Boston. There they operated giant grain and export coal terminals, backed by enormous rail yards. These features continued to dominate Boston Harbor well into the 1940's. The military also increased its presence in Boston Harbor. The Charlestown Navy Yard, homeport of the USS Constitution, had been emplaced in Charlestown since the Revolution, but by the end of World War Two the Navy had three annexes and a Naval air station on Boston Harbor. During the war, the nearby Fore River Shipyard turned out more ships than any other shipyard in the country. The Port of Boston Today Today's Port of Boston has been virtually transformed since the stagnation of the immediate postwar years. The port's rebirth began in 1956, when an ineffective, locally-controlled port commission was replaced by the autonomous, self-supported, Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport). Massport immediately began the difficult job of buying up and rehabilitating abandoned or deteriorated property, updating rail and road links and, in general, preparing the port for changes in the world shipping industry. That change really hit home in 1966, when Sea-Land pioneered the use of shipping "containers" in the trans-Atlantic trade (shipping containers are standardized 20 or 40 foot boxes which can be mounted on truck chassis or stacked up to eight high in the holds of ships). Massport's Castle Island Container Terminal was constructed for Sea-Land and became one of the first container terminals in the country. By 1971, the shipping world was rapidly switching to container transportation, and a second container terminal was built by Massport in Charlestown as a common-user facility. In 1980, Sea-Land gave up its lease of Castle Island and Massport built a new, larger common-user facility on the site, later named Conley Terminal. Since 1980, container traffic has tripled and Boston has become one of the most modern and efficient container ports in the U.S. General cargo tonnage growth has averaged 3.6% growth each year. Overall, the port handles more than 1.3 million tons of general cargo, 1.5 million tons of non-fuels bulk cargo and 12.8 million tons of bulk fuel cargos yearly. The passenger ship industry is also expanding in the Port of Boston. Numerous four and five star cruise lines such as Cunard, Norwegian Majesty, Hapag-Lloyd and Silversea regularly call the port. With more than 62 ship calls last year alone, the port is now considered one of the fastest-growing high-end cruise markets in the country. Boston also hosts an enormous complex of privately owned petroleum and liquefied natural gas terminals, which supply more than 90% of Massachusetts' petroleum consumption needs. The port is home to two shipyards, numerous public and private ferry operations, world-renowned marine research institutions, marinas, a major Coast Guard facility and is one of America's highest-value fishing ports. |
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