Coal Gas Holder at Adams Street and Gallivan Boulevard
Dorchester Illustration 2682
The Dorchester Gas Light Company was incorporated in 1854. “Gideon Beck, Alexander Pope, and Charles C. Harrington, their associates and successors, are hereby made a corporation, by the name of the Dorchester Gas Light Company, for the purpose of manufacturing and selling gas in the town of Dorchester. … Said corporation, with the consent of the selectmen of the town of Dorchester, shall have the power and authority to open the ground in any part of the streets, lanes, and highways, in said, for the purpose of sinking and repairing such pipes and conductors as it may be necessary.”
Coal gas, which was manufactured by heating coal, was used for gas lamps both in homes and on public streets. The gas was stored locally in gas holders, sometimes called gasometers, and was distributed through wooden or metal pipes. Many of the gas holders were telescoping, that is, they were balloons that could rise when gas was pumped in and fall when gas was drawn out.
Today’s illustration is a photograph of the gas holder circa 1871 that was located at the corner of Adams Street and Marsh Street (now Gallivan Boulevard). At least a portion of the structure still exists and is incorporated into the rounded back wall of the Erie Pub.
Other Dorchester holders were located on Freeport Street and Franklin Court. Local gas companies in the Boston area were brought together in 1905 to form the Boston Consolidated Gas Company.