Fort Point Channel Historic District

Across Fort Point Channel from downtown Boston, this 55-acre district at the northwest corner of South Boston holds 103 buildings and 11 structures, most of them brick and heavy-timber lofts built between 1880 and 1929 for warehousing and light manufacturing. All of the land was created by the Boston Wharf Company, which filled the area, laid out the streets and put up most of the buildings, largely to designs by staff architects Morton D. Safford and Howard B. Prescott. Styles range from Italianate and Romanesque Revival to the predominant Classical Revival. Four bridges cross the channel, including the 1900 Summer Street retractile draw bridge, the 1930 Congress Street bascule bridge designed by Joseph B. Strauss, and the Northern Avenue swing bridge. Summer Street's elevated grade, carried over A Street, and the curving Melcher Street give the area a distinctive character. Today the loft buildings house apartments, studios, museums and businesses.