THE HUB'S HEMP HISTORY
By John E. Dvorak, Hempologist

Built on isolated Shamut peninsula with only Boston Neck connecting it with the mainland, Boston truly was the hub of the universe for many of this country's first immigrants. Shipyards and cordage factories (ropewalks) were needed to supply this thriving port with its means of transportation, commerce and defense. Many ships built in America using Russian hemp spent much of their useful lives sailing from the New World, bringing home iron and hemp to fulfill the needs of future fleets.

1630 marked the first year that hemp cordage was made in Boston. While hemp was planted in nearby Salem a year earlier, it is most likely that the actual fiber used by the Boston ropewalks (then and for many years to come) came from abroad. In 1641, several Bostonians convinced John Harrison, a ropemaker from Salisbury, England, to set up shop in Beantown. Harrison found ample room for his cumbersome ropewalk at the foot of Summer Street, near what is today South Station. For over twenty years, Harrison enjoyed a virtual monopoly in Boston's ropemaking business as evidenced by a 1663 order from town authorities demanding that a fellow twine twister, John Heyman, stop making rope and leave town. Harrison's competitive advantage ended when he died, and the number of ropewalks increased.

Throughout the 1700's, subsidies were given to farmers to encourage the cultivation of hemp and the manufacturing of cordage and canvas. Indeed, at various times, one could pay their taxes with flax, tar, leather, and hemp. However, most hemp used for naval purposes was imported. This is evidenced by the following facts:

· During the first six months of 1770, the colonies imported over 400 tons of hemp from Great Britain;
· America's annual imports of hemp rose from 3,400 tons around 1800 to nearly 5,000 tons between 1820 and 1840;
· Each year between 1839 and 1843 the Charlestown Navy Yard processed an average of 500 tons of Russian hemp but only 7 tons of American grown hemp.

In 1722, Boston's 12,000 inhabitants made it the largest city in British North America. Captain John Bonner's map from this era documents the location of six ropewalks (1722 CAPTAIN BONNER'S MAP OF BOSTON). These wooden buildings, which made marine cordage with tar and hemp, were unfortunately severe fire hazards. Their proclivity to burn necessitated the need to locate these peninsular appendages in sparsely populated or swampy areas.

Several ropewalks were built on or near Barton's Point. This is the area between what is now the State House and Mass General Hospital (1796 NEAR THE BOSTON COMMON, CAMBRIDGE STREET AND LEVERET STREET  ). Another group ran along Pearl Street, now Post Office Square in the middle of modern day Boston's financial district (1777 MAP OF BOSTON). By 1794 there were fourteen ropewalks in Boston and over 150 scattered across America (173 in 1810) . The ropewalks on Pearl Street remained until July 30th, 1794, when a fire destroyed much of the neighborhood from Milk Street to Cow Lane (now High Street).

At this time the towns-people of Boston made a far reaching decision by granting the rights for the construction of new ropewalks on the "remote" marshy flats of the Charles River at the foot of the Boston Common. This gift was made with the condition that the grantees build a sea wall to protect the land. The end result of this civic minded philanthropy turned the Back Bay from a formidable body of water into a fashionable place to live. For the next thirty years, the ropewalks built on the site of the Old Round Marsh created the cordage that equipped the ships that shaped this country. However, by 1824, the Back Bay was shaping up too and Mayor Quincy convinced the town to spend the significant sum of $55,000 to re-acquire the land, clearing the way for the creation of one of Boston's most treasured jewels, the Public Garden.

The need to locate cordage factories away from heavily populated areas certainly helped the Plymouth Cordage Company, which was founded in 1824. During the first half of its 125 years of business, cannabis hemp was the raw material used in one of the largest cordage factories in the world. Portions of it have been restored and named Cordage Park where you can shop, have dinner, and enjoy several ropemaking exhibits and artifacts. A portion of one of their original ropewalks has even been moved to the Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut.

In 1837 a steam powered ropemaking complex was completed at the Charlestown Navy Yard that would manufacture most of the U.S. Navy's cordage until it was closed in 1971. Designed by Alexander Parris, better known as the architect of Boston's Quincy Market, this historic facility includes a tar house, a hemp house, and America's only remaining full-length ropewalk, a stone structure stretching one quarter of a mile long. Even during the Navy Yard's tough times in the 1880's the ropewalk provided constant work. The nascent equal rights movement benefited during both World Wars when women were employed as ropemakers. When the U.S.S. Constitution was virtually rebuilt from 1927 to 1931 the ropewalk was still able to manufacture the ancient-style four stranded hemp shroud-laid cordage required for her standing rigging. Charlestown's ropewalk is now slated for restoration. Tall ships could once again be rigged with hempen cordage made in this horizontal monument that literally and figuratively lies in the shadow of Bunker Hill and Old Ironsides. While perhaps not as familiar as other cultural icons (yet!), ropewalks are nevertheless enduring symbols of hemp's role in this country's national security, defense and prosperity.