IrishTown: History

Back when RiverTown was getting started, IrishTown was the part for immigrants who mostly worked as stevedores, (haulers on-and-off ship), or other hard labor related to shipping. The larger neighborhood held rope factories, warehouses. Maybe even shipbuilders, but there’s no sign of that now.

The Irish eventually shared the streets, and then successive waves of people moved through. It was never a genteel part of town. It was always a community. Or that's my impression.

My street stretched all the way to the docks. The docks had all been enclosed, because stevedoring went out and mechanical haulage came in. When the people are unemployed, the inevitable pilferage on the docks must have become an epidemic. Plus the liability issues.

That is not in the history. Just stands to reason.

River commerce made that neighborhood, but you cannot see the river from its streets any longer. Behind the insurmountable wall, the ports are failing, too.

At night, you can hear the drone of the tugboats. It's not all gone yet.