Douglas D. Schumann Library & Learning Commons: Special Topics: Engineering Boston: Back Bay Landfilling Project

Internet Resources on the Back Bay Landfilling Project

Boston Groundwater Trust
Contains a collection of historical maps and papers on Boston's precarious groundwater situation and the decay of the Back Bay's wooden pilings.
Building The Mill Dam
A short account of the Mill Dam; a causeway built between 1818 and 1821 to supply water power for industrial use.
Creating Boston's Back Bay (Video)
Boston historian Anthony Sammarco talks about the building of the Mill Dam and subsequent land filling (4:50).
Frederick Law Olmstead and the Back Bay Fens
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.
Ground Penetrating Radar Characterization of Wood Piles and the Water Table in Back Bay, Boston
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.
History of the Boston Landfill Project: How Boston Lost Its Hills
A concise history of the Back Bay landfilling project.
Report...on the Drainage of the Back Bay (1850)
This report describes the poor drainage of the Back Bay, which has turned the neighborhood into "a giant cesspool" (p. 11).
The Shawmut Peninsula: Boston's Landfill History
Provides a map and landfill timeline of the various landfilling projects, as well as a glimpse of the original geology of the peninsula.

Final Report of the Commissioners Appointed under the Resolves Concerning Boston Harbor and Back Bay (1850)
This report recommended the filling of the Back Bay with clean sand and gravel.
Report of the Joint Committee on Public Lands in Relation to the Public Garden (1850)
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.
Reports on the Resolves Concerning Boston Harbor and Back Bay (1855-1876)
Annual reports on the progress of Back Bay landfilling and development. A few years are missing.
Sentry, or, Beacon Hill : the Beacon and the Monument of 1635 (1877)
Describes the topography of Boston during its first 150 years.