Last updated Pedestrian bridge, Charles River Esplanade, Boston, MassachusettsMetropolitan Park System map
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.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3]
The park system consists of coastal reservations and beaches including Revere Beach, river reservations along the three major rivers in the area, such as the Charles River Reservation, and woodland reservations exemplified by Blue Hills Reservation south of the city. In addition, parks focusing on local history are located in Lynn and Roxbury. The DCR also manages a system of parkways which serve to connect the urban public to the open spaces; among these are busy streets such as Jamaicaway in Boston as well as secluded park roadways in uninhabited areas such as the Blue Hills Reservation Parkways.[1]
History
The open spaces of Boston in 1892 and 1902 compared in an illustration from a biography of Charles Eliot
The improvement of areas of undeveloped land, detrimental development, and polluted land in and around Boston for a system of interconnected parks was first conceived and promoted by landscape architects Charles Eliot and Warren H. Manning, as well as Sylvester Baxter, a Boston newspaper writer and city planning enthusiast.[2][4] Eliot and Manning had apprenticed with Frederick Law Olmsted and Eliot later assumed leadership of Olmsted's design firm in 1893, with Manning leaving the firm in 1896. Olmsted had been responsible for the development of Central Park in Manhattan and with Eliot had worked to create Boston's Emerald Necklace, a string of connected parks and waterways.[5] Eliot and Manning were instrumental in the founding of The Trustees of Public Reservations (now The Trustees of Reservations) and the public Metropolitan Parks Commission in the 1890s and envisioned an expansion of the parks network to areas surrounding Boston.[5]
The Metropolitan Park Commission was established in 1892 and appointed by the legislature. It consisted of Charles Francis Adams, Jr., Philip A. Chase and William B. de las Casas. The commission hired Baxter to serve as secretary and Eliot as landscape architect.[6]
In 1919, the commission was renamed the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) after merging with the Metropolitan Water and Sewer Commission.[2][9] Through the next 80 years the MDC became increasingly politicized and known as a haven for political patronage.[10] Following a series of failures within the commission resulting in the pollution of Boston Harbor in the 1970s, the City of Quincy sued the MDC and the separate Boston Water and Sewer Commission in 1982, charging unchecked systemic pollution of the city’s waterfront. That suit was followed by one by the Conservation Law Foundation and finally by the United States Government, resulting in a landmark court-ordered cleanup of Boston Harbor.[11] The lawsuits forced then Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis to propose separating the water and sewer treatment divisions from the MDC, resulting in the creation of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority in 1985. Charges of political corruption and patronage continued to follow the MDC, while the loss of revenue from removal of the payments brought in by water and sewer services created a need for increased funding from the state legislature.[9] The situation resulted in calls for the dismantlement of the MDC,[9] which was realized when the MDC was dissolved by legislation in 2003. The Metropolitan Park System and other operations of the MDC were merged with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management to form the current Department of Conservation and Recreation.[12][13] In 2009, a study concerning the transfer of DCR managed roadways to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation was begun, following the transfer of all DCR non-pedestrian bridges as part of a major transportation reform law enacted that year.[14][15]
Parks and reservations
The following table lists parks and reservations currently owned and maintained by the DCR Division of Urban Parks and Recreation, subdivided into sections based on environment as stated by the DCR, with year of formation, location within municipalities, site area and primary activities listed:
↑ Massachusetts Metropolitan Park Commission (c. 1893). Report of the Board of Metropolitan Park Commissioners. January, 1893. Boston: Wright & Potter Printing Co. (no imprint). pp.16–19, 31, 88–89, 91, 108–109.
↑ Areas, years formed and municipalities are listed on DCR web pages for some, but not all, parks. Where the DCR page contains unclear information, the data is either from a cited source or from the Office of Geographic and Environmental Information (MassGIS), Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs "Protected and Recreational Open Space" datalayer. Area figures from the datalayer may represent a larger space than is accessible to the public, due to the inclusion of administrative or undeveloped sections of a given park.
↑ "Stodder's Neck/Abigail Adams Park". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 13 December 2009. (Land acquired for Abigail Adams State Park, added to Stodder's Neck to form reservation)
The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is a state agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 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.
Breakheart Reservation is a public recreation area covering 652 acres (264 ha) in the towns of Saugus and Wakefield, Massachusetts. The reservation features a hardwood forest, two freshwater lakes, a winding stretch of the Saugus River, and scenic views of Boston and rural New England from rocky hilltops. The park is managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Fenway, commonly referred to as The Fenway, is a mostly one-way, one- to three-lane parkway that runs along the southern and eastern edges of the Back Bay Fens in the Fenway–Kenmore neighborhood of Boston, in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As part of the Emerald Necklace park system mainly designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in the late 19th century, the Fenway, along with the Back Bay Fens and Park Drive, connects the Commonwealth Avenue Mall to the Riverway. For its entire length, the parkway travels along the Muddy River and is part of the Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston. Like others in the park system, it is maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.
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 Veterans of Foreign Wars Parkway is a historic parkway in Boston, Massachusetts. The southern terminus of the parkway is at Washington Street at the Dedham-West Roxbury border, from where it travels north and then east, ending at a junction with Centre Street, near the Arnold Arboretum. The highway is almost entirely contained within the West Roxbury neighborhood, although it passes through part of the Chestnut Hill neighborhood near its junction with the West Roxbury Parkway. Most of its length, from Spring Street in West Roxbury to its eastern end, is administered by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), a successor to the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) which oversaw the road's construction. The parkway was built in stages between 1930 and 1942, and was designed to provide a parkway connection from the Upper Charles River Reservation to other MDC parks via the West Roxbury Parkway. The DCR portion of the road was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. The road formerly carried the designation for U.S. Route 1.
Winthrop Shore Drive is a historic parkway in Winthrop, Massachusetts. The mile-long parkway runs through the Winthrop Beach Reservation, and is administered by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). The parkway is one of a series of ocean parkways that make up a network of parkways connecting major open spaces in the Greater Boston area. Both the parkway and reservation were designed in the mid-1890s by Charles Eliot for the Metropolitan Parks Commission, a predecessor to the DCR. Land was acquired for the parkway in 1899, and construction was largely completed in 1900.
Fresh Pond Parkway is an historic park and parkway, found in the westernmost neighborhoods of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The parkway was built in 1899 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
The Fells Connector Parkways are a group of historic parkways in the cities of Malden and Medford, Massachusetts, suburbs north of the city of Boston. The three parkways, The Fellsway, Fellsway West, and Fellsway East serve to provide access from the lower portion of the Mystic River Reservation to the Middlesex Fells Reservation. The latter two parkways continue northward, providing access to the interior of the Fells and providing a further connection to Lynn Fells Parkway. Significant portions of these parkways south of the Fells, which were among the first connecting parkways designed to be part of the Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston by Charles Eliot, were listed on 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.
Quincy Shore Drive is a historic parkway in Quincy, Massachusetts. The road is one of a series of parkways built by predecessors of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, to provide access to parks and beaches in the Greater Boston area. Its development was proposed in 1893 by Charles Eliot, who promoted the development of many of the area's parks and parkways. Planning began in 1897, with land acquisition following around 1900. Construction of the 4-mile (6.4 km) road was begun in 1903 and completed in 1907.
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 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 Mystic River Reservation is a publicly owned nature preserve with recreational features located along the Mystic River in the towns of Winchester, Arlington, Medford, Somerville, Everett, and Chelsea in eastern Massachusetts. The reserve is part of the nearly 76-square-mile (200 km2) Mystic River watershed. It is managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Morrissey Boulevard is a six-lane divided coastal road in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is owned and maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).
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.
Lynn Shore Reservation is a protected coastal reservation in the city of Lynn, Massachusetts. It includes 22 acres (8.9 ha) of beaches and recreational areas. From north to south, King's Beach, Red Rock Park and Lynn Beach are located along Lynn Shore Drive and Nahant Bay, a small bay of the Atlantic. The reservation shares athletic fields with Nahant Beach Reservation in the area around Nahant Rotary, a traffic circle at its southern end.
Park Drive is a mostly one-way, two-lane parkway in the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood of Boston that runs along the northern and western edges of the Back Bay Fens before ending at Mountfort Street. As part of the Emerald Necklace park system mainly designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in the late 19th century, Park Drive, along with the Back Bay Fens and the Fenway, connects the Commonwealth Avenue Mall and Boylston Street to Beacon Street and the Riverway. For a portion of its length, the parkway runs along the Muddy River and is part of the Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston's Muddy River Reservation. Like others in the park system, it is maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.
The Charles River Reservation (Speedway)-Upper Basin Headquarters is located at 1420–1440 Soldiers Field Road and 525 Western Avenue in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is a complex of seven buildings designed by architect William D. Austin in the Shingle and Colonial Revival styles and built between 1899 and 1940. The site served as the headquarters of the State-managed Charles River Reservation and as horse stables for the Charles River Speedway, a harness and bicycle racing track along present-day Soldiers Field Road. The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) maintains the Speedway Headquarters and considers it to be one of its origin properties.
Lynn Shore Drive is an historic oceanfront parkway in Lynn, Massachusetts. Composed of a two-lane road, parkland, a seaside pedestrian esplanade, and a seawall, Lynn Shore Drive runs for approximately one mile (1.6 km) along Lynn's Atlantic Ocean coastline, following the upland boundary of the adjoining Lynn Shore Reservation, and connecting Nahant with Swampscott.
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