Boston's 1976 World's Fair That Wasn't

Swimming in Boston Harbor in wintertime. Hiking tree-lined trails under a translucent dome. Renting electric cars for a spin around Thompson Island.

It definitely seems like something out of a sci-fi book, perhaps a vision of life in Boston in 2020. But rather than some futuristic view of the Boston Harbor Islands, this was a proposed plan for developing the islands in the 1970s. Believe it or not.

Plans were drawn up in the early 1970s to stage a huge international exposition in Boston in 1976 to celebrate the American bicentennial. The planners of Expo '76 projected that up to 60 million people would visit the 690-ace fairground, which, in addition to Thompson Island, would have been located on Columbia Point in Dorchester and a new harbor island created from a combination of landfill and floating platforms.

The plans called for construction of a 500-boat marina and a hotel on the southern end of Thompson Island as well as the conversion of the school facilities into a youth camp and demonstration farm. Visitors would have been able to rent bikes or electric cars to traverse the island.

The piece de resistance, however, was the proposal to build a huge, transparent dome, more than two football fields in diameter, that would have covered part of the islands' natural landscape of grassy knolls, woods, and winding trails. The dome would have been climate-controlled, allowing for boating, swimming, and picknicking year-round, even in the throes of a New England winter. For more, click here for a 1968 Boston Redevelopment Authority planning report on the fair. 

Luckily, these plans never came to fruition, and the landscape of Thompson Island has been preserved. As is often the case, it's everyday city residents who are partly to thank for the plan's demise.

This Thursday (July 28), the Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands are putting on a program at the Thayer Public Library in Braintree exploring the World's Fair that wasn't. The program will include a screening of a public service film made by Save Our Shores, a grassroots organization, as well as a panel discussion with some of the film's creators. There will be exhibits on display as well. Click here for more on the program.

The plans for the 1976 World's Fair were some of the most compelling items I came across in researching Discovering the Boston Harbor Islands. Always interesting to see an alternate history for how Boston could look today. Electric cars and swimming under a giant dome sounds pretty cool, but I'll take the walking trails and open skies of Thompson Island just how they are.

Half-Price Tickets to the Boston Harbor Islands

One of the current drawbacks in visiting the Boston Harbor Islands is that the $14 price of ferry tickets for adults is on the steep side. But there's some good news for anyone who's been hesitant to visit the islands because of the ferry prices.

Travelzoo is selling half-price tickets for the Boston Harbor Islands ferries until 7 PM EDT on June 30. Tickets have been discounted to $7 for adults, $5 for seniors, and $4 for children. You will receive a voucher that can be redeemed for any ferry from Long Wharf through September 30. Click here to purchase tickets and get more information.

New Visitor Center and Summer Shack on Georges Island

Last Friday was a beautiful summer day in Boston, a great day to explore the Boston Harbor Islands. In addition to the great weather, I was particularly enthused for this island adventure because it was my first opportunity to check out the brand new visitor center and Summer Shack eatery on Georges Island, home to historic Fort Warren.

After months of construction, the former mine storage building on Georges Island has been transformed into a new visitor center featuring a museum on the ground level. (A gift shop inside the center will open next year.) The museum’s exhibits focus not just on Fort Warren, but more broadly on the history of Boston’s coastal defenses from the birth of the Massachusetts Bay Colony through the Cold War. A number of the museum exhibits focus on a day in the life of the Union soldiers stationed at Fort Warren during the Civil War along with the Confederate prisoners who were held captive there. (Perhaps I missed it, but one subject I didn’t see covered was the fort’s infamous ghost—the Lady in Black.)

One of the most interesting items on display is a dinner table featuring six plates of food representing typical meals for the Confederate prisoners of war and the Union soldiers, varying by rank. Contrary to our modern-day concept of POWs, some of the Confederate prisoners dined much more sumptuously than their Union captors.

No doubt both Union and Confederate soldiers would have enjoyed the fare now being served on the island by the new outpost of Jasper White’s Summer Shack. The menu includes lobster rolls, fried shrimp, fried clams, and other summertime favorites. A new open-air pavilion offers great views of the Boston skyline along with a shady place to chill out.

There’s also a new children’s playground area that’s constructed to look like a section of the granite fort. Toddlers might enjoy the slide and peering out the narrow windows of the structure like one of the island’s former residents, but its features are limited compared to other city playgrounds.

After exploring the inside of Fort Warren, take a seat in one of the new teak Adirondack chairs that look out on Boston Harbor and some of the other islands. The captivating views are appropriate for this former island prison.

Go to the Boston Harbor Islands web site for ferry tickets to Georges Island, and be sure to tote along your copy of Discovering the Boston Harbor Islands for a full history of Fort Warren.

Boston Harbor Islands Photograph Exhibition

I'm very excited that an exhibition featuring my photographs of the Boston Harbor Islands national park area has opened at the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse on Fan Pier in Boston. The photographs are on display in the second floor atrium through September 30.

The setting for the exhibition, with picturesque views of Boston Harbor through the courthouse's huge windows, is fantastic and ties in perfectly to the theme of the exhibition. The photographs in the exhibition highlight the islands' natural beauty, wildlife, and recreational offerings along with some of their historic structures, such as lighthouses, cottages, cemeteries, and ruins of military forts and lavish estates. 

Many of the photographs in the exhibition are featured in the pages of my book Discovering the Boston Harbor Islands, which offers historical narratives and contemporary portraits of each of the 34 islands and coastal peninsulas in the Boston Harbor Islands national park area.

To see the photographs of the Boston Harbor Islands that are on display, click here. If you are interested in purchasing any prints of my Boston Harbor Islands photographs, e-mail me.

The Moakley Courthouse is open to the public on weekdays between 8 AM and 6 PM.  A picture ID is required to enter the courthouse.