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It is impossible to write a review of Gaining Ground without resorting to superlatives. This is the most meticulously researched and lavishly illustrated (and heaviest) book I have ever reviewed. The subtitle, A History of Landmaking in Boston , refers to the leveling of hills and filling of bays that contributed to Boston's growth. Nancy Seasholes documents this process on a year by year, wharf by wharf, block by block basis. Maps, drawings, and photographs depict the changes.
The book is the result of the author's involvement in archaeological assessments, part of the environmental review process required of urban construction projects. One of the tasks in Boston is to determine whether the land is original or made land. If the latter, it has to be determined "when it was filled, why, by whom, how, and with what" (p. ix). The book, based in part on Seasholes's dissertation, covers "the various parts of Boston Proper but also the Fenway and Bay State Road areas, Charlestown, East Boston, South Boston, and Dorchester" (p. ix).
The Shawmut peninsula on which the Puritans settled was 487 acres. Roughly 500 acres have been added, largely by filling tidal flats. Nearby communities have grown in a similar fashion. Landmaking was facilitated by the Colonial Ordinance of 1641 that defined the rights of shoreline property owners as including the flats to the low-tide mark (p. 21). The demand for wharves...