East Boston: From Noddle’s Island to Gateway Neighborhood

East Boston is the only Boston neighborhood you usually reach by tunnel, ferry or train under the harbor. That separation shaped its history. For nearly two centuries, Eastie has been a place where newcomers start their lives in Boston, and where the city’s maritime and aviation history meet.

Islands in the harbor

Much of today’s East Boston was once a group of islands, the largest called Noddle’s Island. During the colonial period it was mostly farmland and pasture. In 1775, colonial militia skirmished with British forces in the area in one of the early engagements of the Revolution.

In the 1830s, a group of investors formed the East Boston Company to turn the islands into a new community. William H. Sumner, a leading figure in the effort, helped lay out a grid of streets and squares. Over time, filling connected the islands to each other and to the mainland, and the neighborhood grew outward.

The age of clipper ships

In the mid-1800s, East Boston’s shipyards became famous. Donald McKay, a Nova Scotia-born shipbuilder, built some of the fastest clipper ships ever launched, including Flying Cloud, which set a record for the voyage from New York to San Francisco around Cape Horn. A memorial to McKay stands at Castle Island in South Boston, looking across the water toward his old yards.

Immigrant gateway

East Boston’s docks also received immigrants. Irish families arrived in large numbers in the 1800s, followed by Jewish and then Italian immigrants around the turn of the twentieth century. In recent decades, families from El Salvador, Colombia, Guatemala, Brazil and many other countries have made the neighborhood one of the most diverse in the city. Meridian and Bennington Streets reflect that mix in their shops and restaurants.

Tunnels and the airport

Getting to and from East Boston drove some important engineering:

• The East Boston Tunnel, opened in 1904 and now used by the Blue Line, was one of the earliest underwater transit tunnels in the country.
• The Sumner Tunnel opened for cars in 1934, followed by the Callahan Tunnel in 1961 and the Ted Williams Tunnel in the 1990s.
• An airfield opened on the neighborhood’s tidal flats in the 1920s. It grew into Logan International Airport, named for General Edward Lawrence Logan.

The airport’s expansion over the decades took homes and open space, and East Boston residents have long organized around noise, traffic and environmental concerns.

The waterfront today

Some of the best skyline views in Boston are from East Boston. Piers Park, along the harbor, looks straight across to downtown, and the East Boston Greenway follows an old rail line through the neighborhood to Constitution Beach. Newer housing along the waterfront sits near triple-deckers and churches that date back generations.

On a clear winter afternoon, take the Blue Line to Maverick and walk to Piers Park. Watching planes rise over the harbor while the city lights come on is a fine reminder of how much of Boston’s story has always depended on the water.