Remaking Boston: An Environmental History of the City and Its Surroundings

Front Flap

Since its settlement in 630, Boston, its harbor, and outlying regions have undergone monumental transformations through natural forces and by the hands of humans. Remaking Boston chronicles many of the events that altered the physical landscape of Boston while also offering multidisciplinary perspectives on the environmental history of one of America’s oldest and largest metropolitan areas. Situated on an isthmus, and blessed with a natural deepwater harbor and ocean access, Boston became an important hub for colonial, and then American, trade with Europe and other foreign ports. As Boston’s population and economy grew, developers extended the city’s shoreline into the surrounding tidal mudflats to create more useable land. Further expansion of the city was achieved through the annexation of surrounding communities, and interconnection of city and suburb opened the floodgates to increased commerce , services, and workforces, while also leaving a wake of roads, rails, bridges, buildings, deforestation, and pollution. Profiling this ever-changing environment , the contributors examine Boston from its early glacial formation to the present, outlining the physical characteristics and composition of the land and harbor, and the significant environmental impact of human occupation. Individual chapters address population movements, land use, infrastructure development, historic climate changes, biological adaptations , and reclamation projects, among other topics. (continued on back flap) REMAKING BOSTON REMAKING BOSTON AN ENVIRONMENTAL HIS TORY OF THE CITY AND ITS S URROUNDINGS Edited by Anthony N. Penna and Conrad Edick Wright UNIVER SIT Y OF PIT TSBUR G H PR ESS ...