Charlestown Navy Yard’s buildings reflect the range of architectural styles employed over its long history. These structures served a variety of functions within the working yard, which was home to naval officers and their families as well as an industrial work place. Beginning in 1853, the civilian shipyard workers living in surrounding communities, primarily Charlestown, assembled each morning to the ringing of the bell atop the octagonal Muster House. For most of the 19th century, the workers mustered there three times daily, in the morning at sunrise, at lunch, and once more in the evening before retiring to their homes at sunset. [Illustration: Muster House] Directing the activities was the shipyard commandant, who lived with his family and personal staff in the impressive mansion constructed in 1805. Built on the yard’s high ground, the Commandant’s House provided a bird’s-eye view of the construction and repair activities going on below. [Illustration: Commandant’s House] Today the house is open to the public for special tours, and numerous activities, such as historical military encampments, take place on the expansive lawn through the summer months. [Illustration: Historical military encampments] [Illustration: The Chain Forge houses the massive hammers once used to forge die-lock chain, a unique process developed here in 1926.] [Illustration: The country’s only remaining full-length ropewalk was for more than 130 years the sole facility in the Navy manufacturing rope for U.S. warships. Both buildings (not open to the public) await restoration and preservation work as part of the National Park Service’s ongoing efforts to preserve the significant industrial heritage of the Charlestown Navy Yard.] The Ships at Charlestown The Navy’s oldest commissioned warship, United States Ship _Constitution_ and the Charlestown Navy Yard share a long history. Constructed in Boston between 1794 and 1797, “Old Ironsides” was repaired and supplied here many times during its active career. U.S.S. _Constitution_ was permanently berthed in Charlestown in 1897 and has since been open to the public for tours. Like all wooden vessels, _Constitution_ needs constant attention. In the 1920s, a major overhaul was capped with a nationwide tour. Between 1992 and 1995, _Constitution_ underwent the most significant restoration to date in the yard’s Dry Dock 1. Newly discovered drawings and descriptions were used to help skilled naval shipwrights restore the vessel to its original appearance. [Illustration: _Constitution_ settles on dry dock blocks in preparation for its 1990s restoration.] [Illustration: A view off the bow of the venerable warship.] [Illustration: Caulkers use traditional caulking hammers to seal the gun decks.]