James Hook Burns to the Ground

Fort Point landmark and Boston institution James Hook & Co., a lobster wholesaler, burned to the ground this morning in a seven alarm fire, the Globe reports.

The fire closed the Moakley bridge, which connects South Boston to the Financial District, to vehicular traffic, causing a jumbled commute for beleaguered workers going to or from Southie.

The blaze was said to have destroyed more than 60,000 pounds of lobster, valued at $9 a pound, which was bound for restaurants in Boston and throughout the eastern seaboard. Bostonist guesses that the delicacy just got a few dollars more expensive.

The fire burned quickly, partly because of the creosote-soaked timbers that supported the structure over the Fort Point Channel.

James Hook & Co. has been a family owned business since 1925. It's currently owned by the fourth generation of Hooks and has long been known as a holdout against the homogenizing development that has afflicted other parts of downtown Boston.

Photo of the James Hook building before the blaze tagged "Bostonist" by Flickr user GregMacKay, who says, "Goodbye Old Friend."