Boston Mill Corporation

On May 31, 1643, the Town of Boston granted land, bordering the Charles River, to a group of mill owners. The Proprietors of the Mill Pond, as they eventually came to be called, controlled the fate of acreage which included a grist mill, pond, streams, and as well as adjoining property. By 1804, however, Boston no longer needed to have working mills within the city limits, and on March 9 of that year, the current owners of the property incorporated as the Boston Mill Corporation . In 1806, a covenant between the Corporation and the City of Boston allowed the Corporation to fill in the pond and lay out streets at the Corporation’s expense. In turn, the Corporation could sell the resulting lots and retain all profits from sales. Many prominent residents of the city including Harrison Gray Otis, William Minot and Thomas C. Amory were associated with this land company during its active years. Sales agents employed by Boston Mill Corporation over the years were John Peck and Andrew Sigourney. The most active period for the Corporation were the years from 1804 through 1828 when it actively engaged in filling in the waterways and selling land. Streets created in the area include Prince Street, Lynn Street, Pond Street, Charlestown Street and Causeway Street. A canal was also dug out in the same area.

In 1828, John Peck, agent as well as property owner and one of the original incorporators, sued Boston Mill Corporation because the process of filling in the ponds and streams cut off the water supply he needed for his Charles River wharf. Earlier in the decade, the drains installed at the request of the City of Boston in the area proved inadequate as the population grew and lawsuits resulted from unsanitary conditions. These incidents and others prompted Boston Mill Corporation to sell the remaining property and its rights of ownership to the Boston and Maine Railroad in the mid-1840s, when the railroad sought land in Boston with the intent of constructing a branch line.