The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is a state agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, situated in the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. It is best known for its parks and parkways. The DCR's mission is "To protect, promote and enhance our common wealth of natural, cultural and recreational resources for the well-being of all." The agency is the largest landowner in Massachusetts.
Great Blue Hill is a hill of 635 feet located within the Blue Hills Reservation in Milton, Randolph and Canton, Massachusetts, about 10 miles (16 km) south of downtown Boston. It is the highest point in Norfolk County and the Greater Boston area.
Blue Hills Reservation is a 7,000-acre (2,800 ha) state park in Norfolk County, Massachusetts in the United States. Managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, it covers parts of Milton, Quincy, Braintree, Canton, Randolph, and Dedham. Located approximately ten miles south of downtown Boston, the reservation is one of the largest parcels of undeveloped conservation land within the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The park's varied terrain and scenic views make it a popular destination for hikers from the Boston area.
Salisbury Beach State Reservation is a state-owned, public recreation area on the Atlantic Ocean in the town of Salisbury, Massachusetts, managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. It is one of the most heavily utilized state parks in the Commonwealth, with "an annual attendance rate of over one million visitors."
Connecticut River Greenway State Park is a protected environment with public recreation features that consists of separate state land holdings, including open spaces, parks, scenic vistas, and archaeological and historic sites, along the Connecticut River in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts. The state park includes critical wildlife and plant habitat as well as areas providing public access to the river in its run across the state and is intertwined with other protected land including farmland under state-held agricultural preservation restrictions, municipal and conservation land trust holdings, and state and national wildlife refuges.
Houghton's Pond is a spring-fed kettle hole pond in Milton, Massachusetts, south of Boston. Like many ponds and lakes in the United States, it was formed by receding glaciers about 10,000 years ago. By the standard definition of lakes being bodies of water larger than 20 acres (8.1 ha), the 24-acre (9.7 ha) pond is technically a lake.
The Neponset Valley Parkway is a historic parkway in southern Boston and Milton, Massachusetts, United States. It is a connecting parkway in the Greater Boston area's network, providing a connection between the Blue Hills Reservation, Neponset River Reservation, and the Stony Brook Reservation. The parkway was constructed between 1898 and 1929 with design assistance from Charles Eliot and the Olmsted Brothers. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
The Blue Hills Reservation Parkways are a network of historic parkways in and around the Blue Hills Reservation, a Massachusetts state park south of Boston, Massachusetts. It consists of six roadways that provide circulation within the park, and that join the park to two connecting parkways, the Blue Hills Parkway and the Furnace Brook Parkway. The roadway network was designed by Charles Eliot in the 1890s, except for Green Street, which was added to the network in the 1940s. The parkways were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.
The Charles River Reservation Parkways are parkways that run along either side of the Charles River in eastern Massachusetts. The roads are contained within the Charles River Reservation and the Upper Charles River Reservation, and fall within a number of communities in the greater Boston metropolitan area. The Charles River parks extend from the Charles River Dam, where the Charles empties into Boston Harbor, to Riverdale Park in the West Roxbury neighborhood of Boston. Most of the roadways within the parks are listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a unit, although Storrow Drive and Memorial Drive are listed as part of the Charles River Basin Historic District.
The Middlesex Fells Reservoirs Historic District is a historic district roughly bounded by Pond St., Woodland Rd., I-93, and MA 28 in Stoneham and Medford, Massachusetts. It encompasses a portion of the Middlesex Fells Reservation, a state park managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). The principal features of the district are three reservoirs and their associated gate houses and pumping stations, which were developed by the Metropolitan District Commission starting in the late 19th century. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
Furnace Brook Parkway is a historic parkway in Quincy, Massachusetts. Part of the Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston, it serves as a connector between the Blue Hills Reservation and Quincy Shore Reservation at Quincy Bay. First conceived in the late nineteenth century, the state parkway is owned and maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and travels through land formerly owned by the families of John Adams and John Quincy Adams, passing several historic sites. It ends in the Merrymount neighborhood, where Quincy was first settled by Europeans in 1625 by Captain Richard Wollaston. The road was started in 1904, completed in 1916 and added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 2004.
The Blue Hills State Police Barracks is on Hillside Street in Milton, Massachusetts. It houses the police and patrol offices of the Blue Hills Reservation, a Massachusetts state park administered by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). Built in 1904 by the DCR predecessor Metropolitan Parks Commission, it is one of several buildings designed by Stickney & Austin as the demand for services in the park increased in the early 20th century. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Blue Hills Headquarters on September 25, 1980.
Blue Hills Parkway is a historic parkway that runs in a straight line from a crossing of the Neponset River, at the south border of Boston to the north edge of the Blue Hills Reservation in Milton, Massachusetts. It was built in 1893 to a design by the noted landscape architect, Charles Eliot, who is perhaps best known for the esplanades along the Charles River. The parkway is a connecting road between the Blue Hills Reservation and the Neponset River Reservation, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.
Brookwood Farm is a historic farm on Blue Hill River Road in Canton, Massachusetts. Some of its fields, but none of the buildings, are in Milton. It is owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation.
The Metropolitan District Commission Stable is a historic stable on Hillside Street in Milton, Massachusetts. Built around the turn of the 20th century, it is part of a headquarters complex designed by Stickney & Austin for the Metropolitan Parks Commission when the Blue Hills Reservation was being developed for recreational use. The building is a good example of Shingle style architecture, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The Refreshment Pavilion is a historic refreshment stand at Houghton's Pond in the Milton portion of Blue Hills Reservation, a Massachusetts state park. Built in 1920, it is one of a series of architect-designed structures built in the park by the Metropolitan District Commission. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston is a system of reservations, parks, parkways and roads under the control of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) in and around Boston that has been in existence for over a century. The title is used by the DCR to describe the areas collectively: "As a whole, the Metropolitan Park System is currently eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places", as outlined on the department's website. The DCR maintains a separate Urban Parks and Recreation division to oversee the system, one of five such divisions within the department—DCR's Bureau of State Parks and Recreation manages the remainder of Massachusetts state parks. Direct design and maintenance functions for the parkways and roads within the system are provided by the DCR Bureau of Engineering.
Stony Brook Reservation is a woodland park in Boston and Dedham, Massachusetts, a unit of the Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston, part of the state park system of Massachusetts. It was established in 1894 as one of the five original reservations created by the Metropolitan Park Commission. The park is served by the Stony Brook Reservation Parkways, a road system that was entered into the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
Wilson Mountain Reservation is a state-owned, public recreation area and protected woodland park in Dedham, Massachusetts, managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. It features hiking trails, open space and a summit view of the Boston skyline, and is an important wildlife preserve. At 215 acres (87 ha), it is the largest remaining open space in Dedham. The reservation is part of the Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston.
William Downes Austin was an architect and author in the United States. He was a partner with Frederick W. Stickney at Stickney & Austin from 1892 until 1900. Austin worked out of their Boston office while Stickney worked out of the Lowell office. After the partnership ended in 1900, they both maintained each other's names in their respective practices. One of their first projects was the Highland Club in Lowell.
North side
South side
Chimney detail
