Central Wharf was conceived in the aftermath of the War of 1812, when the restoration and expansion of trade created a need to renovate the Boston waterfront and expand the town's shipping capacity.

[1] Upon its completion, Central Wharf featured a row of fifty-four warehouses built in the Federal style, with each one measuring four stories in height and three window bays in width.

Over the next several decades it assumed a prominent position in the town's seaport, becoming the place of business for several eminent merchants and serving as the center of Boston's large Mediterranean trade.

1868 due to land reclamation undertaken for the construction of Atlantic Avenue, which ran through the middle of the wharf, and most of the warehouses were torn down in the 1950s-1970s to make way for several projects, including the building of the Central Artery and the New England Aquarium.

These buildings, which form the last surviving Federal-style wharf complex in the city, were added as part of the Custom House District to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.