Calf Pasture Pumping Station Complex, Sewerage pumping station in Dorchester, Boston, United States
The Calf Pasture Pumping Station Complex sits at 435 Mount Vernon Street in Dorchester with Richardsonian Romanesque architectural features designed by George Clough. The 9.5-acre site encompasses the structures that formed Boston's first sewage treatment facility in the 1800s.
The facility was built in 1883 as Boston's first sewage treatment station and operated until 1968 when operations shifted to the Deer Island facility. This closure marked the end of wastewater handling at the original location.
The name traces back to its original use as pastureland for calves in the 1600s, a past that still echoes in the site's identity today. This transformation reflects how urban spaces shifted from rural functions to industrial purposes over centuries.
The site is currently managed by the University of Massachusetts Building Authority, which reviews development proposals for future uses. Visitors should expect that access may be limited depending on ongoing projects and preservation work at the complex.
The pumping station is the only surviving 19th-century structure on Columbia Point and channeled waste to a treatment facility on Moon Island in Boston Harbor. The connection to an island with such an unusual name adds an unexpected historical detail to Boston's past.
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