The completion of the Charles River Dam Bridge on June 30, 1910, created the Charles River Basin

and gave Boston the waterway that is now integral to our urban experience. What had been a tidal estuary

at the end of the 80-mile river now shelters rowing and yacht clubs, one of the world’s largest public

sailing programs, and the barge from which Boston’s iconic Fourth of July fireworks are launched.

Summer traffic was bumper-to-bumper as 32 boats moved through the locks at the Charles River Basin

on July 17, 1966. In the control tower, Salvatore Albondi of Nahant operated the locks, which handled

300 to 400 boats on a busy weekend and 3,500 in a month like July.