Boston Swan Boats: 150 years of operation and a new archive project

The swan boats have operated in the Boston Public Garden for nearly 150 years. To mark this milestone, fourth-generation owner Lyn Paget has partnered with Historic New England to catalogue archives from the past century and a half. The project aims to eventually share these records with the public.

Paget stated that the family’s history was previously stored in boxes, scrapbooks, and personal memory. She described the effort as a living archive that forms an important part of Boston’s history. Vin Cipolla, the chief executive officer and president of Historic New England, noted his pride in turning his organization’s attention to the floating fleet. These crafts are powered by a driver who pedals the craft like a bicycle.

Cipolla, a native of Massachusetts, said the boats have been an iconic part of life for New Englanders and visitors alike. He characterized the business as a Boston institution that has touched lives far beyond the city. The collection under review includes physical documents pulled from the basement of the Paget family home and the Boston City Archives. It also contains oral histories from family members, employees, and fans.

Cipolla credited the Paget family with keeping exceptional records of their business. He said the family’s amassing of this archive creates a mirror of the city’s own history. Paget recalled a childhood spent pasting newspaper clippings into scrapbooks between working on boats and listening to her father’s stories. While familiar with some content, she discovered new pieces of history through online newspaper searches and city documents.

Paget said she had known the business was difficult to run seven days a week for half the year, but lacked a clear sense of the story of her ancestors. The archives are helping her piece together the generations before her parents. She views the project as a way of storytelling through the eyes of a family business with substantive history. She noted that the more she digs in, the more she wants to learn.

The business began in the 1870s when Robert Paget, Lyn Paget’s great-grandfather, requested a boat for hire license. In 1877, he introduced the swan boat, a foot-propelled catamaran with benches for riders and a swan shell at the rear. The current fleet includes boats built between 1910 and 1992, yet the design and operation remain unchanged. Paget said riders experience a space identical to what their grandparents would have remembered.

The family operated the boats through the Great Depression and both world wars. They kept prices low and spirits high during these periods. One newspaper clipping in the archives features a Massachusetts man complaining that the boats detracted from the seriousness of World War One. Dozens of other letters defended the small joy of the ride. The boats were featured in the 1941 children’s book Make Way For Ducklings and have only paused operations during the 2020 pandemic. The family prepares to open for its 150th season in April 2027 and is deciding whether to release the archives digitally or through physical exhibitions.