Middlesex Fells Reservoirs Historic District | |
Location | Medford, Massachusetts |
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Coordinates | 42°27′18″N71°5′43″W / 42.45500°N 71.09528°W |
Built | 1870 |
Architect | Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge; Et al. |
Architectural style | Italianate |
MPS | Water Supply System of Metropolitan Boston MPS |
NRHP reference No. | 89002249 [1] |
Added to NRHP | January 18, 1990 |
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 (MDC, predecessor organization to the DCR) starting in the late 19th century. [2] The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. [1]
The most prominent and visible feature of the district is Spot Pond, a large body of water on the east side of Interstate 93 in Stoneham. The pond was used as a passive reservoir by surrounding towns prior to its acquisition by the MDC. The MDC replaced several town pumping stations with a single station (separately listed on the National Register in 1984), and constructed a gate house adjacent. Also found in the same area on the eastern shore of the pond is the John Bottume House, a 19th-century stone house that now serves as the reservation's visitors center. The MDC also enlarged the pond's capacity, and converted it for use as a storage reservoir providing water to the communities north of Boston. There is a second gatehouse on Spot Pond, at the southern end (straddling the Stoneham-Medford line). [2]
The MDC also constructed two smaller reservoirs within the Fells. [2] The Bear Hill Reservoir, located just west of I-93 near the summit of Bear Hill, has a capacity of 2 million gallons, and was created in 1902-3 with the construction of two concrete dams and a gatehouse. [3] The Fells Reservoir is located in the southeastern part of the reservation. Because it was sited in existing parkland, it was given a deliberately naturalistic appearance. It was designed by the noted Olmsted Brothers firm, and its gatehouse was built to a design by Shepley, Rutan, and Coolidge. [4]
The Mystic River is a 7.0-mile-long (11.3 km) river in Massachusetts. In the Massachusett language, missi-tuk means "large estuary", alluding to the tidal nature of the Mystic River. The resemblance to the English word mystic is a coincidence, which the colonists followed.
Chestnut Hill is a wealthy New England village located six miles (10 km) west of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is best known for being home to Boston College and a section of the Boston Marathon route. Like all Massachusetts villages, Chestnut Hill is not an incorporated municipal entity. It is located partially in Brookline in Norfolk County; partially in the city of Boston in Suffolk County, and partially in the city of Newton in Middlesex County. Chestnut Hill's borders are defined by the 02467 ZIP Code. The name refers to several small hills that overlook the 135-acre Chestnut Hill Reservoir rather than one particular hill.
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.
Middlesex Fells Reservation, often referred to simply as the Fells, is a public recreation area covering more than 2,200 acres (890 ha) in Malden, Medford, Melrose, Stoneham, and Winchester, Massachusetts, United States. The state park surrounds two inactive reservoirs, Spot Pond and the Fells Reservoir, and the three active reservoirs that are part of the water supply system for the town of Winchester. Spot Pond and the Fells Reservoir are part of the Wachusett water system, one of six primary water systems that feed metropolitan Boston's waterworks. The park is managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation and is part of the Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston.
The National Register of Historic Places is a United States federal official list of places and sites considered worthy of preservation. In the state of Massachusetts, there are over 4,300 listings, representing about 5% of all NRHP listings nationwide and the second-most of any U.S. state, behind only New York. Listings appear in all 14 Massachusetts counties.
Lynn Fells Parkway is a parkway in Greater Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. The road runs from the end of Fellsway East in Stoneham, eastward through Melrose, and ends in Saugus at US Route 1. The parkway serves as a connector between the Middlesex Fells Reservation and Breakheart Reservation.
The Chestnut Hill Reservoir Historic District is a historic district encompassing the Chestnut Hill Reservoir and the surrounding water works facilities which were historically used to provide fresh water to Boston, Massachusetts, and surrounding towns. The district is nearly coextensive with the Chestnut Hill Reservation, a state park managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR); those elements of the water works that are still required as an emergency backup are managed by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA). The reservoir is located between Beacon Street and Commonwealth Avenue in Boston's Chestnut Hill district, just east of the Boston College Main Campus Historic District.
Bellevue Standpipe is a historic water storage tank on Bellevue Hill at Washington Street and West Roxbury Parkway in the Stony Brook Reservation of Boston, Massachusetts. Built in 1914, it is one of three early 20th-century water tanks built as part of Greater Boston's public water supply. The structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
Fresh Pond Parkway is a historic park and parkway on the western end of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is part of the Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston. 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 Middlesex Fells Reservation Parkways are the roadways within and bordering on the Middlesex Fells Reservation, a state park in the northern suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The park includes portions of the towns of Malden, Medford, Melrose, Stoneham, and Winchester. The roads inside the park and around its perimeter have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Other portions of some of the roads are covered by more than one listing in the national register; see Fellsway Connector Parkways and Middlesex Fells Reservoirs Historic District.
The Mystic Dam are a historic dam and gatehouse between Lower and Upper Mystic Lakes in the suburbs north of Boston, Massachusetts. The dam was built in 1864–65 by the Charlestown Water Commission as part of a water supply system. It was located at a narrow point between the Lower and Upper Mystic Lakes, with its west end in Arlington and its east end in Medford. The water system it was a part of eventually merged into the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC), predecessor to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).
The Medford Pipe Bridge is a historic plate girder pipeline bridge over the Mystic River, between S. Court St. and the Mystic Valley Parkway in Medford, Massachusetts. It was built in 1897 as part of the Metropolitan Water Board's northern high and low service.
The John Bottume House is a historic house at 4 Woodland Road in Stoneham, Massachusetts. Built c. 1849, this stone house was one of several built along the shore of Spot Pond by a Boston businessman as a retreat, and is the only one to survive. It is owned by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, and houses the visitors center for the Middlesex Fells Reservation. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The Metropolitan District Commission Pumping House is a historic water pumping station, adjacent to Spot Pond in the Middlesex Fells Reservation, on Woodland Road in Stoneham, Massachusetts. Built in 1901 by the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC), it is one of Stoneham's finest examples of Renaissance Revival architecture. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984, and included in the Middlesex Fells Reservoirs Historic District in 1990.
The Spot Pond Archeological District is a historic archaeological site near Spot Pond in Stoneham, Massachusetts. It is located in the Virginia Woods section of the Middlesex Fells Reservation, a state park. The district encompasses sites along Spot Pond Brook that were mill sites dating from the 17th to the 19th centuries. At its height, in the mid-19th century the Hayward Rubber Works was located in the area, giving it the name "Haywardville". One of the park's trails runs through the area, and a park pamphlet provide a self-guided tour joining the major remnants of the industries that once flourished there.
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.
Spot Pond is a lake in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The pond is within the Middlesex Fells Reservation, a Massachusetts state park. It is almost entirely located within the boundaries of Stoneham, Massachusetts.