Help us expand our reach! Please share this article on social media On Aug. 28, 1918, an outbreak of influenza was detected aboard a receiving ship at Boston's Commonwealth Pier. "Unless precautions are taken," wrote Dr. John S. Hitchcock of the Massachusetts Department of Health, "the disease in all probability will spread to the civilian population of the city." Despite the department's swift actions to contain the disease, it spread like wildfire, first through the maritime population and, by mid-September, to civilians. In an effort to minimize the spread of the disease, state and city officials enacted measures that would be all too familiar to us today. Theaters, movie houses, saloons, and dance halls were closed. Public gatherings were prohibited. Citizens were advised to avoid unnecessary travel on streetcars, subways, and trains. Still, Boston hospitals overflowed with patients, and the situation became more desperate as the city's doctors and nurses themselves became infected with influenza.