Uncovering Boston's Industrial Past | Tom Speight

In June, I had the great pleasure of interviewing Tom Speight, an environmental regulator who commissioned two custom maps from Treeline Terrains in 2022. These maps were not your ordinary pieces; They’re the only maps we’ve ever created using historical topographic data, and together, they hold a fascinating story.

The maps commemorated a book Tom co-authored with his friend and colleague, Allen Hatheway, on Boston’s pre-WW2 gasworks industry. Tom, a history major with a career focused on addressing the consequences of unregulated industrialization, met Allen somewhat by accident on LinkedIn. Tom describes Allen as a “bonafide genius” whose credentials span from restoring the Sphinx to working with NASA to land spaceships on the moon. The two quickly discovered their mutual interest in Boston’s coal gasification industry, and they decided to write a short paper on the subject.

Now, for those reading this who know nothing about gasworks, I was very much in the same boat. Here's what I learned from talking to Tom. After World War 2, petroleum pipelines made these gasworks, which converted raw coal into coal gas for lighting street lamps, obsolete in the US. That said, the environmental footprint of their existence remains deep. You see, gasworks did not just produce gas; The main byproduct of coal gasification, coal tar, contained hundreds of hazardous chemicals, which endangered (and continue to threaten) humans and the environment alike. These gasworks were extremely leaky, and beyond that, their owners didn’t think twice about dumping the excess sticky black gunk into the surrounding rivers, which desecrated most of the marine life it encountered. Today, much of the coal tar from the early 20th century remains in Boston’s watersheds, and the cost to clean up a single site could span into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

From Short Paper to Monumental Project

Ok, now that we're on the same page, let's get back to the story! What started as a plan to write a thirty-page manuscript became a significant project spanning eleven hundred pages, nearly six years of research, and around six and a half tons of primary documents. In “Manufactured Gas Plant Remediation: A Case Study,” Tom and Allen dive into the history of gasworks, their environmental and health impacts, and suggestions for their clean-up. To commemorate their work, Tom commissioned two maps of Boston as it appeared in 1903, long before Logan Airport and much of South Boston existed. To mark the locations of Boston’s gasworks, Tom opted for tourmaline stones, a mineral found in raw coal.

Upon receiving the map as a surprise, Tom recalls, “[Allen] was mind blown. He loved it so much he even made a shrine for it." Not so surprisingly, Allen recognized the tourmaline and its reference to gasworks on the spot. Suffice it to say, Tom nailed the gift.

These maps display the profound impact of industrialization on Boston’s topography, and they encourage us to think of those before us who shaped the land at our feet, for better and for worse. Their story reminds us of the importance of looking to the past to contextualize and address the pressing environmental challenges we face today. At Treeline Terrains, we are happy to have played a part in celebrating Tom and Allen’s important work with these unique maps. Thank you, Tom, for enlightening us!