Lewis Wharf is a showpiece of waterfront urban renewal in Boston's historic North End. The granite structures on the wharf were built as an early 19th-century shopping mall in the era before railroads when water transport was the most efficient way to move commodities to marketplaces.
Boston was the trade center of the colonial Province of Massachusetts Bay. Waterfront property was developed as a shopping center of stores selling goods unloaded from adjoining wharfs. Property was owned by wealthy wharfingers who collected fees from ships loading or unloading cargoes and leased the stores and warehouse space to local merchants who purchased, stored and sold those cargoes. Lewis Wharf was within an area known as Clark's Wharf while owned by provincial councilor William Clark. It was later owned by Thomas Hancock and inherited by his nephew John Hancock in 1764. [1] Thomas Lewis of Lynn, Massachusetts, was a successful merchant during the years following the American Revolution. He reorganized a portion of the property from John Hancock's estate in 1793 as Thomas Lewis and Son with three leased stores. Thomas Lewis had three sons: Thomas, David and John. Thomas assumed control of the wharf when his father died in 1809. John became heir to the property when his brother died in 1824. John and his cousin Samuel G. Lewis established the Lewis Wharf Company in 1834, and upgraded the property with stores which were among the earliest granite masonry buildings in Boston. [2]
Lewis Wharf stores represented the apex of New England marketplace architecture in the age of water transport. Merchandise arrived at the wharf in watercraft of all sizes from Middlesex Canal boats to oceangoing schooners. Items advertised for sale included cocao, cod, "Guadeloupe cotton", "Jamaican fish", gin, rice, salt, white sugar, "brown Havana sugar", tar, and turpentine. [2] As railroads extended inland from port cities like Boston, wharves became locations for transfer of freight and new marketplaces were built near population centers. The most efficient freight transfer wharves were those designed for bulk cargoes; so demand for wharf warehouse space declined through the 20th century and practically disappeared as intermodal containerized freight transport became standardized. In 1973, the old granite and timber warehouses were renovated by Carl Koch. The two lowest floors were designated for commercial occupancy while the upper four stories became residential condominiums. [3]
A wharf, quay, staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths, and may also include piers, warehouses, or other facilities necessary for handling the ships. Wharves are often considered to be a series of docks at which boats are stationed.
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A stevedore, also called a longshoreman, a docker or a dockworker, is a waterfront manual laborer who is involved in loading and unloading ships, trucks, trains or airplanes.
Toronto Harbour or Toronto Bay is a bay on the north shore of Lake Ontario, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a natural harbour, protected from Lake Ontario waves by the Toronto Islands. Today, the harbour is used primarily for recreational boating, including personal vessels and pleasure boats providing scenic or party cruises. Ferries travel from docks on the mainland to the Islands, and cargo ships deliver aggregates and raw sugar to industries located in the harbour. Historically, the harbour has been used for military vessels, passenger traffic and cargo traffic. Waterfront uses include residential, recreational, cultural, commercial and industrial sites.
The Port of San Francisco is a semi-independent organization that oversees the port facilities at San Francisco, California, United States. It is run by a five-member commission, appointed by the Mayor and approved by the Board of Supervisors. The Port is responsible for managing the larger waterfront area that extends from the anchorage of the Golden Gate Bridge, along the Marina district, all the way around the north and east shores of the city of San Francisco including Fisherman's Wharf and the Embarcadero, and southward to the city line just beyond Candlestick Point. In 1968 the State of California, via the California State Lands Commission for the State-operated San Francisco Port Authority, transferred its responsibilities for the Harbor of San Francisco waterfront to the City and County of San Francisco / San Francisco Harbor Commission through the Burton Act AB2649. All eligible State port authority employees had the option to become employees of the City and County of San Francisco to maintain consistent operation of the Port of San Francisco.
Long Wharf is a historic American pier in Boston, Massachusetts, built between 1710 and 1721. It once extended from State Street nearly a half-mile into Boston Harbor; today, the much-shortened wharf functions as a dock for passenger ferries and sightseeing boats.
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The Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal was a shortline railroad and marine terminal with its main facilities and administrative offices located on 86–88 Kent Avenue in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York City.
The Portland Terminal Company was a terminal railroad notable for its control of switching (shunting) activity for the Maine Central Railroad (MEC) and Boston & Maine (B&M) railroads in the Maine cities of Portland, South Portland, and Westbrook.
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Hancock's Wharf was a dock on the waterfront of Boston, Massachusetts in the 1700s, owned by John Hancock, and previously his uncle, Thomas Hancock. Hancock's Wharf began from near the foot of Fleet Street and the junction of Fish and Ship Streets. Both of the latter streets are now roughly the present-day Commercial Street. This wharf figures prominently in the early setting of Johnny Tremain, a Newbery Award-winning novel by Esther Forbes.
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Fresh Wharf was a wharf located in the City of London close to London Bridge, on the north bank of the River Thames. The site was used as a quay in Roman times and later as an unloading place for Anglo-Saxon boats. A wharf was constructed there at some point in the medieval period and appears to have acquired its name from its customary usage as a landing place for fresh fish. In the 16th century, Fresh Wharf was made a "Legal Quay" authorised for the import of certain goods during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England. It expanded as London's river-borne trade grew in the 18th and 19th centuries, with large warehouses being established immediately behind the wharf. In the 20th century, the wharf's owners took over the adjoining wharves immediately upstream and downstream, built a new ten-storey warehouse and renamed the site New Fresh Wharf. By the end of the 1960s, however, London's docks had fallen into disuse with the advent of containerization, for which they were not suited, and the wharf was closed down in 1970. An office block was built on the site of the warehouse in 1977 and the former quayside is now part of a public footpath along the Thames.
Cairns Wharf Complex is a heritage-listed wharf at Wharf Street, Cairns City, Cairns, Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1910 to 1948. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 17 December 1999.
Botolph Wharf or St Botolph's Wharf was a wharf located in the City of London, on the north bank of the River Thames a short distance downstream from London Bridge. It was situated between Cox and Hammond's Quay upstream and Nicholson's Wharf downstream. On the landward side, the wharf was accessed via Thames Street. It had a frontage of 78 ft (24 m). The wharf was used for at least a thousand years before being destroyed during the Second World War. A late 1980s office building currently occupies the site.
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