Dorchester Illustration no. 2462 Commercial Point 198
Today’s illustration is a newly acquired photograph that was published Saturday, January 6, 1968, possibly in the Boston Herald newspaper or Boston Herald Traveler as it was probably called at that time. The photo shows Commercial Point, the gas tanks and the Old Colony Yacht Club.
In the early years of the 19th century the Point was the home of a whaling operation and home to the Preston Chocolate Manufacturing facility and wharf. Commercial Point has a long history of supplying fuel to customers, for lighting and heating. In the mid-19th century the Cutter Company stacked its small share of the Point with firewood and coal. By the end of the century most of Commercial Point was occupied by the facilities of the Boston Gas Light Co., including gas holders that inflated when gas was stored in them and deflated as the gas was taken out.
By 1910, the gas company had become the Boston Consolidated Gas Co. With the introduction of the Old Colony Parkway (now Morrissey Boulevard), the Point was cut off from the rest of Dorchester. In the 1950s the Southeast Expressway reinforced the separation of the Point from the rest of Dorchester.
In the photo, we can see the Expressway immediately behind the inflated tank and Morrissey Boulevard coming in from the right and passing under the Expressway. I have counted about 20 vehicles traveling on the Expressway in the photograph. The Harrison Square or Clam Point neighborhood can be seen behind the roadways, and the Old Colony Yacht Club is at the left on the south side of the Point.
The caption to the photo is “Old tank of Boston Gas Co. in Dorchester to be replaced with a gleaming white tank one sixth as large.” When the new tank for natural gas was constructed, Corita Kent was invited to illustrate it, and her design was painted in 1971. Since then, the tank with the painting has been taken down, and the illustration was repainted on the remaining tank.