BOSTON – Seaport World Trade Center, formerly Commonwealth Pier

When I saw these three photos Hine took in 1917, I instantly recognized the building in the background and was surprised that its outward appearance really hasn’t changed through the years.

I took a long walk one very cold and windy day to take the present-day comparison photos you’ll see below. I also went investigating for signs of a nearby railroad Hine refers to in his photos, but no tracks exist in this location today. I tried to dig up some history on the building, but came up short online, so I emailed the folks at the Seaport World Trade Center to see if they could give me some historical facts on the building, and they were very helpful.

The building was constructed in 1901 as a maritime cargo handling facility. Makes sense since it sits right on the water, and as you can tell from today’s photo, boats like the “Spirit of Boston” still claim this space as its home dock. At one time, Commonwealth Pier was the largest pier building in the world, able to accommodate even the largest of vessels entering the port of Boston. The building handled both freight and passenger traffic … and rail and truck transportation was accessed on the pier. Aaaah, that’s where the railroad tracks come into play from Hine’s day. It’s all making sense now!

The facility hosted ships through the 1970s, but changes in cargo transportation eventually made this use of the pier obsolete. In the early 1980s, the pier was transformed for different uses, becoming known as “World Trade Center Boston” in 1986.

Today this property is officially named “Seaport World Trade Center,” visited by more than 1.5 million folks annually, as it is host to many exhibitions and conferences. Also, as I found out when I tried to recreate a similar angle Hine took his original photos from, this building now has company in this Boston Harbor neighborhood – including a Seaport Hotel, T station and many other modern buildings.

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Photo credits of Lewis W. Hine’s photos in the order of their appearance on this page: (all taken January 29, 1917 and captioned “Stealing coal from railroad coal-yard.”)

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, National Child Labor Committee Collection, [LC-DIG-nclc-05183].

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, National Child Labor Committee Collection, [LC-DIG-nclc-05184].

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, National Child Labor Committee Collection, [LC-DIG-nclc-05186].