Boston Passenger Lists 1887-1939

Map of Boston Harbor, 1899. GGA Image ID # 19eb1a7fec

 

Boston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Massachusetts, officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; Boston also serves as county seat of the state's Suffolk County.

Below are Passenger Lists of ships with a origination or destination of Boston with immigrants landing at the Boston Immigration Station or Customs House for processing.

 

Boston Harbor and East Boston from State Street, circa 1900. Photo by John P. Soule. GGA Image ID # 1d4a2241c5

 

1880s

Cunard Line

• 1887-08-23 RMS Pavonia - Liverpool to Boston
• 1888-08-30 RMS Scythia - Liverpool to Boston

 

1890s

Cunard Line

• 1895-08-22 RMS Cephalonia - Liverpool to Boston

 

Dominion Line

• 1898-01-15 SS Canada - Boston to Liverpool
• 1899-05-18 SS New England - Liverpool to Boston
• 1899-10-12 SS New England - Liverpool to Boston

 

1900s

Cunard Line

• 1900-09-22 SS Lucania - New York and Boston to Liverpool
• 1901-10-01 RMS Ivernia - Liverpool to Boston
• 1902-09-16 RMS Saxonia - Liverpool to Boston
• 1904-06-11 RMS Etruria - Liverpool to New York and Boston
• 1904-10-25 RMS Saxonia - Liverpool to Boston
• 1905-05-23 SS Saxonia - Boston to Liverpool
• 1905-06-20 RMS Ivernia - Liverpool to Boston
• 1906-08-21 SS Saxonia - Boston to Liverpool
• 1907-09-17 RMS Saxonia - Liverpool to New York and Boston
• 1908-07-15 SS Ivernia - Boston to Liverpool
• 1909-05-18 RMS Ivernia - Liverpool to Boston
• 1909-07-27 RMS Saxonia - Liverpool to Boston

 

Dominion Line

• 1900-09-27 SS New England - Liverpool to Boston
• 1901-08-01 SS New England - Liverpool to Boston
• 1903-05-16 SS Vancouver - Naples to Boston

 

Leyland Line

• 1901-10-05 SS Devonian - Liverpool to Boston
• 1902-08-23 SS Hanoverian - Liverpool to Boston
• 1904-08-06 SS Bohemian - Liverpool to Boston
• 1907-08-31 SS Winifredian - Liverpool to Boston

 

White Star Line

• 1904-07-14 RMS Cretic - Liverpool to Boston
• 1904-08-19 RMS Celtic - Liverpool to Boston
• 1906-03-08 RMS Cymric - Liverpool to Boston
• 1906-09-07 RMS Cymric - Liverpool to Boston
• 1907-08-14 RMS Republic - Liverpool to Boston
• 1908-10-04 RMS Romanic - Genoa to Boston

 

1910s

Cunard Line

• 1910-05-24 RMS Ivernia - Liverpool to Boston
• 1910-07-19 SS Saxonia - Boston to Liverpool
• 1911-08-08 RMS Franconia - Liverpool to Boston
• 1912-05-28 SS Laconia - Boston to Liverpool
• 1912-06-11 RMS Laconia - Liverpool to Boston
• 1912-08-06 RMS Laconia - Liverpool to Boston
• 1912-09-03 RMS Laconia - Liverpool to Boston
• 1912-10-01 RMS Laconia - Liverpool to Boston
• 1913-06-10 RMS Laconia - Liverpool to Portland, ME and Boston
• 1914-08-22 RMS Franconia - Liverpool to Boston
• 1914-09-01 RMS Laconia - Liverpool to Boston

 

White Star Line

• 1910-07-26 RMS Cymric - Liverpool to Boston
• 1911-07-23 RMS Canopic - Genoa to Boston
• 1913-11-22 RMS Cretic - Genoa to Boston

 

1920s

Anchor Steamship Line

• 1927-07-02 SS Cameronia - New York and Boston to Glasgow
• 1929-07-03 SS Cameronia - New York and Boston to Glasgow
• 1929-09-14 TSS California - Glasgow to Boston and New York

 

Cunard Line

• 1923-07-26 RMS Samaria - Liverpool to Boston
• 1923-08-23 RMS Samaria - Liverpool to Boston
• 1923-10-22 RMS Samaria - Liverpool to Boston
• 1924-10-04 RMS Scythia - Liverpool to Boston and New York
• 1924-10-25 RMS Samara - Liverpool to Boston and New York
• 1925-08-27 RMS Scythia - Liverpool to Boston
• 1928-08-18 RMS Laconia - Liverpool to Halifax, Boston and New York
• 1929-07-27 RMS Scythia - Liverpool to Boston and New York
• 1929-08-10 RMS Laconia - Liverpool to Boston and New York
• 1929-08-17 RMS Albertic - Liverpool to Boston and New York
• 1929-10-19 RMS Scythia - Liverpool to Boston and New York

 

Fabre Line

• 1929-07-02 SS Providence - New York and Boston to Marseilles

 

Hamburg Amerika Linie / Hamburg American Line (HAPAG)

• 1926-08-18 SS Westphalia - Hamburg to Boston and New York
• 1929-10-17 SS Cleveland - Hamburg to Boston and New York

 

Leyland Line

• 1922-06-01 SS Winifredian - Boston to Liverpool

 

North German Lloyd / Norddeutscher Lloyd

• 1929-08-30 SS Karlsruhe - Bremen to Boston and New York

 

White Star Line

• 1925-05-30 RMS Celtic - Liverpool to Boston and New York
• 1926-04-24 RMS Celtic - Liverpool to Boston and New York
• 1927-08-13 RMS Cedric - Liverpool to Boston and New York
• 1928-03-24 RMS Cedric - Liverpool to Boston and New York
• 1928-05-19 SS Celtic - New York and Boston to Liverpool
• 1929-06-08 RMS Cedric - Liverpool to Boston and New York

 

1930s

American Export Lines

• 1936-03-24 SS Exeter - Beirut to Boston and New York

 

American Merchant Lines

• 1936-06-26 SS American Trader - London to Boston and New York

 

Anchor Steamship Line

• 1930-05-24 SS California - New York and Boston to Glasgow
• 1932-06-25 TSS Cameronia - New York and Boston to Glasgow
• 1936-09-18 TSS Caledonia - Glasgow to Boston and New York
• 1938-07-22 TSS California - Glasgow to Boston and New York
• 1938-08-19 TSS California - Glasgow to Boston and New York
• 1938-08-26 SS Caledonia - Glasgow to Boston and New York

 

Cunard Line

• 1930-04-05 RMS Scythia - Liverpool to Boston and New York
• 1930-05-31 RMS Scythia - Liverpool to Boston and New York
• 1930-09-20 RMS Scythia - Liverpool to Boston and New York
• 1931-03-31 SS Aurania - Boston and New York to Bermuda, Nassau, and Havana (Cruise)
• 1931-05-02 SS Laconia - New York and Boston to Liverpool
• 1933-08-10 SS Franconia - Boston and New York to Havana, Nassau, and Bermuda (Cruise)
• 1935-03-16 RMS Laconia - Liverpool to Boston and New York
• 1935-07-27 RMS Samaria - Liverpool to Boston and New York
• 1935-08-24 RMS Samaria - Liverpool to Boston and New York
• 1935-09-14 RMS Scythia - Liverpool to Boston and New York
• 1935-10-05 RMS Lancastria - Liverpool to Boston and New York
• 1936-07-24 RMS Samaria - Liverpool to Boston and New York
• 1936-08-21 RMS Samaria - Liverpool to Boston and New York
• 1937-09-03 RMS Franconia - Liverpool to Boston and New York
• 1937-09-11 RMS Laconia - Liverpool to Boston and New York
• 1937-09-25 RMS Scythia - Liverpool to Boston and New York
• 1938-01-15 RMS Carinthia - Liverpool to Boston and New York
• 1938-09-10 RMS Laconia - Liverpool to Boston and New York
• 1939-08-19 RMS Franconia - Liverpool to Boston and New York

 

Hamburg America Line / Hamburg-Amerika Linie (HAPAG)

• 1930-06-07 SS Cleveland - New York and Boston to Hamburg

 

Holland-America Line

• 1936-08-06 TSS Statendam - Rotterdam to Boston and New York
• 1937-07-24 TSS Veendam - Rotterdam to Boston and New York
• 1937-08-06 TSS Statendam - Rotterdam to Boston and New York

 

White Star Line

• 1931-07-31 SS Baltic - Liverpool to Boston and New York
• 1932-07-30 RMS Georgic - Liverpool to Boston and New York
• 1934-10-06 RMS Britannic - Liverpool to Boston and New York

 

Note: Typically, only the origination and final destination ports are listed in each link. Other intermediary ports of call are not listed.

Cunard Wharf at Boston Harbor. Postcard Published by the Metropolitan News Co., Boston. Postally Used in 1908. GGA Image ID # 1d4a512530

 

Boston Immigration Service

Long Wharf, Atlantic Avenue (foot of State Street).
Telephone, Main 380.
United States Commissioner of Immigration
Colonel George B. Billings
Assistant Commissioner
Jeremiah J. Hurley
Surgeon in Charge
Dr. M. V. Safford

The principal function of this Bureau is to examine arriving immigrants to see that the provisions of the various laws are carried out forbidding the landing of certain prohibited classes, among which are convicts, lunatics, idiots, persons suffering from loathsome or dangerous and contagious diseases, paupers, persons likely to become public charges, prostitutes, polygamists, contract laborers and others.

Immigrants arrived 1911:

• Steerage 39,007
• Cabin 22,889
• Total. 61,896

Immigrants arrived 1912:

• Steerage 48,194
• Cabin 23,832
• Total 72,026

QUARANTINE DEPARTMENT

100 Summer Street.
Telephone, Main 6084.

• Chairman: F. X. Mahoney, M.D.
• Commissioner: P. H. Mullowney, M.D.V.
• Location of quarantine: Gallops Island, reached by the quarantine boat, the steamer “Vigilant.”
• Hours of quarantine: sunrise to sunset.
• Port Physician: F. X. Crawford, M.D.
• Assistant Port Physician: Edward M. Looney, M.D.
  

The Quarantine Department is under the control of the Health Department of the city of Boston. The Board of Health makes regulations governing quarantine which are enforced by the Port Physician. The Port Physician, Assistant Port Physician, and all other employees on Gallops Island and on the boats necessary to carry into effect the rules, orders, and regulations of the Board of Health, are appointed by this department.

 

Bird's-Eye View of the Boston Waterfront, ca 1906. Boston Docks and Harbor, With Sail and Steam Vessels, Including Side Wheelers. Detroit Publishing Company. Library of Congress # 2005691058. GGA Image ID # 1d4abdcf7b

 

The instructions and orders of the national government regarding the quarantine are enforced by the Port Physician through this department. The latter has entire charge and supervision of the quarantine station at Gallops Island where he or his assistant is in attendance continually.

On Gallops Island are located a dwelling house, two hospitals, dining hall, two buildings for the reception and care of immigrants, disinfecting plant, electric light plant, store house, etc.

The quarantine steamer “Vigilant,” 73 £ tons burden, about 5 feet in length, 17 feet beams, 8 feet deep, was built in Boston in 1866 at a cost of $18,000; rebuilt in 1912 at a cost of $15,000. The steamer “Relief,” which is an auxiliary quarantine boat was purchased in 1904, $3800.

Boston Chamber of Commerce, Handbook of the Port of Boston, Boston: The Committee on Foreign Trade of the Boston Chamber of Commerce, 1913, pp. 144, 212.

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