Charlestown Navy Yard, Pier 10, Between Piers 9 & 11 along Mystic River on Charlestown Waterfront at eastern edge of Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER MA-90-7. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Between Piers 9 and 11 along the Mystic River on the Charlestown waterfront at the eastern edge of Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts. UTM Coordinates: Boston North, MA, Quad. Boston North, MA, Quad. Dates of Construction: lengthened widened Engineer: Unknown; presumably U.S. Navy Department of Yards and Docks Builder: Shipyard laborers Present Ownership: Boston Redevelopment Authority, 1974-present

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER MA-90-7. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Pier 10 is one of four piers built at Charlestown Navy Yard in the decade prior , to World War I. Wharfs and piers were critical to the Navy Yard's mission of shipbuilding and maintenance, and occupied the entire waterfront. Pier 10 was one of eleven piers in use during the yard's 174-year history. It was widened in when Dry Dock 5 was built. . '

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER MA-90-7. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Documentation of Pier 10 was initiated in accordance with a Memorandum of Agreement between the General Services Administration, the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the Massachusetts Historical Commission (SHPO) and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, as a mitigation measure for . various undertakings at the former Navy Yard. This documentation was prepared between April and August for ENSR Consulting and Engineering for submis~ion to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England Division, prior to initiation of remedial investigations under the Defense Environmental Restoration Program. It is anticipated that demolition will follow.

Documentation prepared by: McGinley Hart & Associates Architects and Preservation Planners 77 North Washington Street Boston, Massachusetts CHARLESTOWN NAVY YARD, PIER 10 HAER No. MA-90-7 (page 2)

Site Description

Pier 10 is located along the Charlestown waterfront in Boston's inner harbor. It extends out into the Mystic River at the eastern perimeter of Charlestown Navy Yard. (See location plan.) Originally sited adjacent to the shiphouses, the location today is vacant and overgrown with vegetation. Part of the original granite block quay wall for one of the shipbuilding slips is still visible on the northwest corner of the pier. On the eastern side of the pier is Dry Dock 5. The pier remains essentially intact, but the wooden portions are badly deteriorated. PIER 10

Description

Pier 10 is of wooden pile construction with timber stringers and plank decking. It is adjacent to Dry Dock 5 , so the entire eastern edge of the pier, with the exception of the outboard end, is encased in the concrete wall of the dry dock. The pier's original dimensions were long and approximately 20 'wide. The pier was lengthened in to and widened in to when Dry Dock 5 was constructed. (See site plans, and The pier contained mechanical systems for electric lighting, compressed air, fresh and salt water systems, steam, an automatic sprinkler system, and tracks for cranes. Most of the switches and controls were housed within a long, narrow, industrial service building, Building located in the center of the pier.

The original building was demolished sometime around at which time a small service building, Building was constructed. In a larger service building, Building was constructed. Both of these service buildings were demolished in the Some of the pier's piping systems and valves survive, as do wrought-iron bollards along the western edge of the pier. Presently, the pier is in poor condition and is badly deteriorated. A study of piers at the Navy Yard found many of the piles, stringers and deck planks to be rotted, missing or broken; however, a significant portion of the pier remains intact.

WHARFS AND PIERS AT CHARLESTOWN NA VY YARD Wharfs and piers were critical to Charlestown Navy Yard's mission of shipbuilding and maintenance, and the shipyard's location was chosen with potential pier and wharf facilities in mind. The peninsula known as "Moulton's Point," located between two rivers in Boston's inner harbor, was considered an ideal site for docking ships. As early as requests were made for building a wharf or dock at Charlestown, but without any immediate threat of war, the government's attention and finances were focused on other problems of the young nation. During the first decade after the yard's establishment, naval vessels were built, stored and repaired at private wharfs, but the drawbacks to this arrangement were obvious.

Not only did renting wharf space cost the government a considerable sum of money, it was also a great inconvenience in the construction and repair of ships. CHARLESTOWN NAVY YARD, PIER 10 HAER No. MA-90-7 (page 3) In a cobb wharf was constructed to enclose the marsh at the center of the yard for "keeping the masts, yards, timbers, etc., in a state of preservation." 1 Boats could dock at the wharf at half-tide, but the wharfs principal use was to form a dam for the timber basin where wood was stored. This remained the only docking facility until when Navy Yard Commandant William Bainbridge proposed the construction of wharfs and other improvements at the yard. If a wharf could not be built, Bainbridge recommended breaking up the yard and selling the ground.

2 At his urging, on the eve of the War of the Secretary of the Navy approved the building of a wharf "where the longest of your public vessels may lay with safety afloat at all times.''3 The War spurred the Navy to begin development of their shipbuilding program and facilities. By the yard had two wharfs on the waterfront, one at the location of Pier 1, and the other near the location of what is now Pier 9. As the Navy grew and the fleet expanded, additional docking facilities were required at the shipyard.

In the Secretary of the Navy's annual report for he stated: "Much inconvenience is experienced from the want of additional wharf room, the present wharves being insufficient to accommodate the public and private vessels visiting the yard; and the item for the wharf is therefore considered as highly necessary.''4 By the shipyard boasted six "shear wharfs," three at either end of the yard. During the the wharfs were numbered 1 through 6. These numbers were changed at the turn of the century to accommodate the anticipated construction of several new piers, including Pier 10. PIER 10

History

Pier 10 was constructed in It was one of four piers built in the decade prior to World War I, and was used primarily as a docking facility. The pier was extended to the new Harbor Commissioner's line in and widened during the During World War II, the Navy Yard's primary industrial activity centered on the construction of 174 destroyers, destroyer escorts, submarines and auxiliaries. This could not have been accomplished without expansion of the yard's minimal shipbuilding facilities. Dry Dock 5 wa6 constructed in connection with the destroyer escort program. Prior to construction of Dry Dock 5, Pier 10 was expanded to its present configuration. (See site plan, Throughout its history, Pier 10 was used as a ship docking facility.

The USS Constitution was docked at Pier 10 in the early 1Edwin C. Bearss, Charlestown Navy Yard, Historic Resources Study, Volume I (United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Boston National Historical Park, Boston, Massachusetts, p. 34. 2Ibid., p. 3Bettina A. Norton, The Boston Naval Shipyard, (Boston: The Bostonian Society, p. l2. 4U. S. Department of the Navy.Report of the Secretary of the Navy, p. CHARLESTOWN NAVY YARD, PIER 10 HAER No. MA-90-7 (page 4)

Significance

Charlestown Navy Yard is nationally significant as one of the earliest naval shipyards in the United States, founded in shortly after the establishment of the U.S. Navy. Together with the navy yards at Norfolk, Virginia, and Brooklyn, New York, it was the most important facility of its kind in the United States through the end of the Civil War. Decommissioned in the yard has retained many of its historic components, and is a significant site which illustrates aspects of the naval, industrial and technological history of the United States. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a designated National Historic Landmark. Pier 10 is one of four piers built at the Navy Yard in the decade prior to World War I.

Wharfs and piers were critical to the Navy Yard's mission of shipbuilding and maintenance, and eventually occupied the entire Navy Yard waterfront Pier 10 was one of eleven piers in use during the shipyard's 174-year history. It was widened in when Dry Dock 5 was built. CHARLESTOWN NAVY YARD, PIER 10 HAER No. MA-90-7 (page 5)

Sources

Bearss, Edwin C. Charlestown Navy Yard, Historic Resources Study, Volumes I and II. United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Boston National Historical Park, Boston, Massachusetts, Black, Frederick R. Charlestown Navy Yard, Historic Resources Study, Volumes I and II. United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Boston National Historical Park, Boston, Massachusetts, Boston Redevelopment Authority. Charlestown Navy Yard: Master Plan/or the Yard's End, March Pier 10 Design Project Files, uncatalogued archival materials. Boston National Historical Park Archives, Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston, Massachusetts. Pier 10 Historic Photograph Collection. Boston National Historical Park Archives, Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston, Massachusetts.

Raber, Michael S. and Matthew W. Roth. Boston Naval Shipyard: A Plan/or Cultural Resource Management in the Buy Parcel Area, study prepared for the Boston Redevelopment Authority, New Haven, Connecticut: Raber Associates. United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service. National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form: Charlestown Navy Yard, United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service. National Register of Historic Places: Charlestown Navy Yard National Historic Landmark Survey, February Yards Plans, Charlestown Navy Yard. Boston National Historical Park Archives, Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston, Massachusetts. CHARLESTOWN NA VY YARD, PIER 10 HAER No. MA-90-7 (page 6) j: ' "~' 1 =:I"''"' ' ':l::i':':: ' \ J: o c CHARLESTOWN NAVY YARD, PIER 10 HAER No.

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