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1775 Boston, Massachusetts vs Current Boston (lemmy.world)

submitted 4 months ago by FireTower@lemmy.world to c/map_enthusiasts@sopuli.xyz

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[-] MataVatnik@lemmy.world 41 points 4 months ago

Did people just pour dirt into the sea and build on top? I'm not being sarcastic, how did this happen?

[-] FireTower@lemmy.world 37 points 4 months ago

Unironically yes they did exactly that. If memory serves a good amount came from Breeds and Bunker hill (just North of the frame).

[-] ifGoingToCrashDont@lemmy.world 24 points 4 months ago

The fill came mostly from Needham

The firm of Goss and Munson extended railroad lines to quarries in Needham, Massachusetts, 9 miles (14 km) away; a 35-car train carrying gravel and other fill arrived every 45 minutes, day and night.[11] When the Needham gravel pits were exhausted, additional fill was found in Canton, Dedham, Hyde Park, and Westwood.[12] William Dean Howells recalled "the beginnings of Commonwealth Avenue, and the other streets of the Back Bay, laid out with their basements left hollowed in the made land, which the gravel trains were yet making out of the westward hills."[13]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back_Bay,_Boston