CIVE 3800-01: Engineering Boston

Contains a collection of historical maps and papers on Boston's precarious groundwater situation and the decay of the Back Bay's wooden pilings.

A short account of the Mill Dam; a causeway built between 1818 and 1821 to supply water power for industrial use.

Boston historian Anthony Sammarco talks about the building of the Mill Dam and subsequent land filling (4:50).

Reprints a letter by Olmstead to the Chairman of the Park Commission that explains the function of the Fens as a tidal marsh meant to control flooding and to improve the city's sanitation.

This 2003 MIT Master's thesis contains valuable information on the history of the Back Bay, as well as on the neighborhood's groundwater and wooden pilings. PDF download.

A concise history of the Back Bay landfilling project.

This report describes the poor drainage of the Back Bay, which has turned the neighborhood into "a giant cesspool" (p. 11).

Provides a map and landfill timeline of the various landfilling projects, as well as a glimpse of the original geology of the peninsula.

This report recommended the filling of the Back Bay with clean sand and gravel.

Provides a history of Boston Common and the Mill Dam. It also weighs the question of constructing a Public Garden or of selling the newly filled land.

Annual reports on the progress of Back Bay landfilling and development. A few years are missing.

Describes the topography of Boston during its first 150 years.