Chelsea Creek, shown on federal maps as the Chelsea River, is a waterway that runs along the shore of

Chelsea, Massachusetts Chelsea is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, directly across the Mystic River from the city of Boston. As of the 2020 census, Chelsea had a population of 40,787. With a total area of just 2.46 s ...

, and separates that community from the cities of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and

Revere Revere may refer to: Brands and companies *Revere Ware, a U.S. cookware brand owned by World Kitchen * Revere Camera Company, American designer of cameras and tape recorders *Revere Copper Company * ReVere, a car company recognised by the Classic ...

, as well as feeding part of the current

Belle Isle Marsh Reservation Belle Isle Marsh Reservation in East Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts is an urban nature preserve and public recreation area containing mostly coastal wetlands. The 350-acre (1.4 km2) Reservation includes the largest remaining salt marsh in ...

that separates Boston from Revere. It is one of 10 designated port areas in Massachusetts. The creek starts as Mill Creek at a former pond at the intersection of

Revere Beach Parkway Revere Beach Parkway is a historic parkway in the suburbs immediately north of Boston, Massachusetts. It begins at Wellington Circle in Medford, where the road leading to the west is Mystic Valley Parkway, and the north–south road is the Fe ...

(

Massachusetts Route 16 Route 16 is a east–west state highway in Massachusetts. It begins in the west at an intersection with Route 12 and Route 193 in Webster, just north of the Connecticut state border. It runs in a generally southwest-northeast routing through ...

) and U.S. Route 1, now a shopping center. Mill Creek meanders east for 0.5 mile, then takes a sharp turn south, becoming Chelsea Creek, and widens significantly as it runs between Chelsea and the neighborhood of East Boston. In that area, the waterway is used by

oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crud ...

s to transport fuel to adjacent oil tanks. The creek then turns southwest and runs into the

Mystic River The Mystic River is a riverU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 in Massachusetts, in the United States. In Massachusett, means "large estuary," alluding to t ...

shortly before it empties into Boston Harbor. All of the jet fuel used at

Logan International Airport General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport , also known as Boston Logan International Airport and commonly as Boston Logan, Logan Airport or simply Logan, is an international airport that is located mostly in East Boston and partially ...

is stored along the Chelsea Creek, with 70–80 percent of the heating fuel in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

, and road salt for approximately 350 communities across the region. In May 1775, the

American colonists The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European colonization of North America from the early 17th century until the incorporation of the Thirteen Colonies into the United States after the Revolutionary War. In the ...

won the first offensive victory of the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

over the British, in a

naval battle Naval warfare is combat in and on the sea, the ocean, or any other battlespace involving a major body of water such as a large lake or wide river. Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Even in the interior of large lan ...

known as the

Battle of Chelsea Creek The Battle of Chelsea Creek was the second military engagement of the Boston campaign of the American Revolutionary War. It is also known as the Battle of Noddle's Island, Battle of Hog Island and the Battle of the Chelsea Estuary. This battle ...

Crossings

Chelsea Parkway Plaza Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, between Chelsea and Revere (source) * Broadway, between Chelsea and Revere * former Slade Mill at Mill Street, Revere * MBTA Commuter Rail

Newburyport/Rockport Line The Newburyport/Rockport Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running northeast from downtown Boston, Massachusetts towards Cape Ann and the Merrimack Valley, serving the North Shore. The first leg, operating via the Eastern Rou ...

* Chelsea Street Bridge * Andrew P. McArdle Memorial Bridge

References

Rivers of Suffolk County, Massachusetts Mystic River Rivers of Massachusetts Geography of Suffolk County, Massachusetts Chelsea, Massachusetts Revere, Massachusetts {{Massachusetts-river-stub