Messing About in Boats, 1939 Style

“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” ― Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

In this image, photographer Leslie Jones captured sailors messing about in boats on Boston Harbor in 1939. 

In the background, you see Pier 4 and the railroad buildings that lined the harborside. 

Here is a map from the 1919 Bromley Atlas that shows Pier 4 at the bottom and the rail lines coming into the shipping docks.

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography:  Courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection. Map courtesy of the State Library of Massachusetts.