Spectacle Island

Over the past several years South Boston residents couldn't help but notice the changes made to Spectacle Island in Boston Harbor. As part of the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, the island, a former city dump, has received 3.5 million cubic yards of clay, dirt, and gravel that was dug for the Ted Williams Tunnel and other construction. 

Before the CA/T project began, Spectacle Island was nothing more than an open mountain of decaying garbage in the middle of Boston Harbor, leaking thousands of gallons of eroding material into the surrounding water. Working with the island's owner's, the City of Boston and the Department of Environmental Management, and with the Mass. Department of Environmental Protection, the project came up with a plan that would: solve an environmental nightmare, provide a place to put 3.8 million cubic yards of excavated material, and build a new park for the city.

In the 1980s, about the time the Commonwealth resolved to clean up Boston Harbor, the Central Artery/Tunnel project was seeking potential sites for excavated dirt. Also at that time, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management (DEM) produced a master plan for a Boston Harbor Islands State Park, which would include Spectacle Island. 

Spectacle Island
Spectacle Island


These mutual interests led to the choice of Spectacle as a site for the project's excavated dirt, gravel, and clay.

A dike was built to contain the island's mountain of trash and prevent further erosion into the harbor. Dirt and gravel were used to reshape the island, over which an 18-inch clay cap was laid. A two to five foot layer topsoil has been placed above the cap so that trees and other plants can be planted on the island.
 
Spectacle Island



Spectacle has had a long and unique history, which begins with several Native American tribes who used it as a place to go fishing, clamming, and gathering food. An archaeological dig in 1992 (done before work began on the island) produced a wealth of information on Native American culture and lifestyle. The island got its name from early European settlers, who arrived in Boston in 1630, saw two large mounds connected by a sandbar in the middle of the harbor which looked like a pair of spectacles. The settlers used the island as a source of pasture land and timber.

The island's location made it an ideal place in the early 1700s for a quarantine hospital. After the hospital was moved to Rainsford Island in 1737, Spectacle was used for picnics and excursions from the mainland. In 1847 two resort hotels were built on the northern side of the island, with gambling as the major attraction. In 1857 the hotels were closed after a police raid discovered a brothel operating at the resort. After that, Spectacle served as the site of a horse-rendering plant that processed as many as 2000 horses a year into gluestock, hair, oil, and bones. During the 1920s, a plant for the reclamation of grease from garbage was established. Ten years later the city began dumping garbage and trash between the island's two hills. The dumping era ended in 1959 when, appropriately enough, a bulldozer sank in a pile of garbage.

Its rather smelly past behind it, Spectacle Island now looks forward to its future: a 121-acre public park with docking access for public ferry and recreational boats, beaches, picnic areas, a trail system, recreation areas, and a visitors' center.

Check out our archaeology section for discoveries made on Spectacle, as well as finds from all over the project. When you get there, click on the online virtual tours.