Creating Pleasure Bay

Creating Pleasure Bay. South Boston. , When landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted drafted his 1883 plan for South Boston's Marine Park, be envisioned connecting it to Castle Island by filling in some 600 acres of mudflats. That took nearly 50 years to achieve., First a wooden footbridge was built in 1892, and a delighted public flocked to the island. On Thursday nights in the summer, dances were held there under a wooden canopy hung with colored lanterns. The footbridge was replaced by a cement path across the newly made land in 1928 and then by a paved road in 1932., Across from Castle Island an iron pier stretched seaward from the Head House. It defined Pleasure Bay and fulfilled Olmsted's plan of increasing public access to the health benefits of sea air. The 1938 hurricane heavily damaged the pier; it was replaced in 1953 by a granite causeway. Six years later, Pleasure Bay was enclosed by a dike with two openings that allow the tide to flow in and out., (photo captions) , Top This 1925 aerial photo shows where soil dredged from both the Reserved Channel and Pleasure Bay was being dumped to make new land between Castle Island and South Boston. That land is now Massport's Conley Container Terminal. On the right, the now-demolished Head House can be seen flanked by beaches at City Point. , ~Courtesy of Boston Public Library, Bottom images left to right The 1880 map shows Castle Island nearly a half-mile offshore., Frederick Law Olmsted's original 1883 plan called for Marine Park to be connected to Castle Island and the area in between to be named Pleasure Bay. , ~Map and plan courtesy of Norman B. Leventhal Map and Education Center at Boston Public Library, The footbridge gave the public access to Castle Island for the first time and attracted hundreds, especially on weekends., An iron pier built in 1896 led out to what was then called Head Island and is now known as the Sugar Bowl. A wooden canopy over part of the pier provided shade. , ~Postcards courtesy of James Sullivan, Postcard History of South Boston