Terminal Storage Warehouse District

Three red brick warehouses stand on the south side of the Mystic River in Charlestown, Boston, on land once part of the large Boston & Lowell (later Boston & Maine) rail yards. Two eight-story Terminal Wharf buildings, built in 1910 and 1911, use reinforced concrete with mushroom columns and open floors, a fireproof system suited to storage and manufacturing. A six-story Terminal Storage Building, completed in 1912-1913, uses older heavy-timber mill construction. Boston's building code, which required fireproof construction for buildings over six stories, explains the difference. All have brick pilasters, segmental arches and concrete trim in a plain Classical Revival manner. Engineers Warren and Gerrish are credited with the design. Much of the surrounding waterfront industry has been replaced by a school, playing fields, housing and parking lots, so these buildings are rare survivors of the era when rail and ship carried goods through Boston. The district was recognized for its architecture and its role in industry between 1910 and 1962.