The Lock Gate Houses - Boston, MA - Massachusetts Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

Between Boston and Cambridge is the Charles River Basin. To the northeast, is the Museum of Science, which sits on the original dam to the river. To the right is the outlet that is the original lock. There is a sign in the Charlesbank Park on the Boston side that explains about them. The sign has the following text:

"The Lock Gate Houses

On the Boston side of the lock are the Upper and Lower Lock Gate Houses, built as part of the Charles River Dam construction in 1905-1910. The sliding concrete and steellocks were pushed out of the lock gate houses and into the lock by a mechanical chain drive. The lock is now left permanently open, since the new dam and locks were completed a half-mile downstream in 1978. The tower of the Lower Lock Gate House is still staffed by bridge tenders who raise the Craigie Draw Bridge whenever boats signal that they need to pass. On the Cambridge end of the dam, just visible to the north of the Museum of Science parking garage, are the Stable and Boat House. Along with the lock houses and the original landscape plantings on the dam, the two buildings were the work of the architect and landscape architect Guy Lowell. His best-known Boston building is the Museum of Fine Arts. From 1910 until the completion of the new dam, the Boat House was home to the boats of the park police, who enforced the rules of the river.

The two iron bollards at the upstream corners of the tennis courts probably date from the contruction of Charlesbank Park in the 1890s, and may have been used to tie up larger boats along the seawall on the edge of the park. Coal barges brought in fuel for the power plants just downstream of Western Avenue and on the Broad Canal on the Cambridge side of the river just below the Longfellow Bridge. Excursion boats sailed from the Craigie Bridge as far upstream as Watertown. The stone seawall upstream of the lock is the last surviving section of the Charlesbank seawall completed in 1888.

The Craigie Bridge and the Boston Elevated Railway Viaduct

The Craigie Bridge was completed in 1809 to link Boston with Cambridge. Sragecoach service across it began at once, followed by horsecars in 1856 and electric trolleys in 1889. Like all of the Charles River bridges built before 1900, it had a movable span to allow the passage upstream of river traffic. An elevated viaduct was completed in 1912 by the West End Street Railway company. The arches were well above the height of the drawbridge over the lock, but the viaduct also had a lift span to accommodate tall-masted ships. The concrete viaduct is still in use today by the MBTA Green Line."

There are historical pictures on this sign, as well as a nice, detailed map of the shoreline.

There are paths leading away from or toward the gate and locks. The way is greener going away from the locks, but going closer allows you to cross the drawbridge and inspect the older lock more closely. If you walk under the viaduct and continue to walk downriver, eventurally (with a diversion around North Station/Garden) arrive at the new lock. and dam.

Agency Responsible for Placement: Other (Place below) Agency Responsible for Placement (if not in list above): Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation Year Placed: 1/1/2011 County: Suffolk City/Town Name: Boston Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]

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