A wharf is a long platform built along a shore where boats and ships can dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Picture a sturdy wooden or concrete walkway stretching out from the land into the water, wide enough for workers to move crates, barrels, and passengers between vessels and the shore.

Wharves (the plural of wharf) were essential to trade and commerce throughout history. In busy port cities, dozens of wharves lined the waterfront, each one crowded with sailors, merchants, and dockworkers moving goods from ships to warehouses. A ship carrying silk from China might tie up at one wharf, while another wharf handled lumber from the Pacific Northwest.

The word is sometimes used interchangeably with dock or pier, though technically a wharf runs parallel to the shoreline while a pier extends perpendicular to it. Either way, a wharf is where water transportation meets land, making it possible to transfer everything from fresh fish to building materials.

Many historic wharves still exist today. San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf remains a famous landmark, and Boston’s Long Wharf has welcomed ships since 1710. When you visit a coastal city and walk along the waterfront watching boats come and go, you’re probably standing on or near a wharf.