Charlestown Navy Yard

The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard', was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. Established in 1801, it was officially closed as an active naval installation on July 1, 1974, and the property was transferred to the National Park Service to be part of Boston National Historical Park. Enough of the yard remains in operation to support the USS Constitution. The USS Cassin Young'', a World War II-era destroyer serving as a museum ship, is also berthed here. Among people in the area and the National Park Service, it is still known as the Charlestown Navy Yard.The South Boston Naval Annex was located along the waterfront in South Boston.HistoryThe earliest naval shipbuilding activities in Charlestown, Massachusetts, began during the American Revolutionary War. The land for the Charlestown Navy Yard was purchased in 1800 and the yard itself established shortly thereafter. The yard built the first U.S. ship of the line, USS Independence, but was primarily a repair and storage facility until the 1890s, when it started to build steel ships for the "New Navy". By then, it was called the Boston Navy Yard.