Lincoln Wharf, North End

Lincoln Wharf is a 191-unit condominium on the waterfront in Boston’s historic North End. The wharf itself, originally named Lincoln’s Wharf, dates back to the late 1700s.

After some 100 years as a general wharf and as a dock for ships that carried thousands of immigrants from Canada, Lincoln Wharf was selected as the site for a coal-fired electric power plant, needed for the new Boston Street Railway. Lincoln Power Station, built on tidal fill and supported by 12,000 wooden pilings, went into operation in 1901. Tidal waters keep the pilings from rotting. A large shed at water’s edge stored coal brought in by ship. The plant’s two tall brick smokestacks were a landmark along the Boston waterfront. The Sumner Tunnel, built later to connect the North End to East Boston, runs partly beneath the wharf. The power plant operated until the mid-1970s.