Boston by Foot Architecture Cruise

Boat tours of architectural gems

A view of the State House dome and downtown’s towers, from the Charles River 

Courtesy of the Charles Riverboat Company

Terri Evans has a soft spot for Millennium Tower. The 60-story residential skyscraper, opened last year in Downtown Crossing, is “slim and graceful and conveys a sense of almost floating in the sky.”

Yet she and other volunteer guides who lead Boston By Foot architecture cruises along the Charles River and into Boston Harbor are equally devoted to traditional icons—the Citgo sign, Longfellow Bridge—and happy to delve into the topography, politics, and history that have long configured Boston’s built environment. “I love how cities grow and change,” Evans says, “and the clues that are left behind that give insight into what was there before.”

Passengers embark at the Charles Riverboat Company’s dock on the Lechmere Canal in East Cambridge. The boat passes the Museum of Science, then slips beneath both the old Boston and Maine Railroad Bridge and the new Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge before entering the Charles River Dam’s locks, which open and close depending on the tides, Evans explains. The inner harbor features views of Charlestown and the North End. Beyond, the financial district includes the Custom House Tower and India Wharf—the nineteenth-century center of international trade that’s now home to the Brutalist-era Harbor Towers.

Then it’s on to the Seaport District. The thriving business and tourist nexus was tidal mudflats until the late 1800s, then became a shipping hub before regressing into a no-man’s land of vacant lots, parking lots, and warehouses tied to the Port of Boston. Last spring workers erecting 121 Seaport Boulevard—a 17-story retail and office building—found the remains of a double-masted, wooden cargo ship that had sunk there between 1850 and 1870. Also among the striking structures is the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), a sleek, Lego-like building that’s both cantilevered over the water and sited on part of the emerging 47-mile Harbor Walk. “Boston is this amazing city,” declares Evans. “People can actually walk throughout the landscape on a pedestrian path that’s at or near the edge of the water.”

Read more articles by Nell Porter-Brown
Related topics

You might also like

Preserving the History of Jim Crow Era Safe Havens

Architectural historian Catherine Zipf is building a database of Green Book sites.  

A Paper House In Massachusetts

The 1920s Rockport cottage reflects resourceful ingenuity.

Your Guide to Summer 2025 Along Boston Harbor

Enjoying Boston Harbor’s Renaissance this summer

Most popular

What Trump Means for John Roberts’s Legacy

Executive power is on the docket at the Supreme Court.

This Harvard Scientist Is Changing the Future of Genetic Diseases

David Liu has pioneered breakthroughs in gene editing, creating new therapies that may lead to cures.

Harvard Layoffs Continue, with More to Come

In the wake of federal government actions, several Harvard schools and institutes are cutting costs.

Explore More From Current Issue

Illustrated world map showing people connected across countries with icons for ideas, research, and communication.

Why Harvard Needs International Students

An ed school professor on why global challenges demand global experiences

Vivian W. Rong sitting on bench outdoors.

Highlighting Harvard Magazine’s Fellows

The 2025-2026 Ledecky and Summer Undergraduate Fellows

Renaissance portrait of young man thought to be Christoper Marlowe with light beard, wearing ornate black coat with gold buttons and red patterns.

Shakespeare’s Greatest Rival

Without Christopher Marlowe, there might not have been a Bard.