Muddy River (Massachusetts)

Last updated June 26, 2023

The Muddy River is a series of brooks and ponds that runs through sections of Boston's Emerald Necklace, including along the south boundary of Brookline, Massachusetts (a town that went by the name of Muddy River Hamlet before it was incorporated in 1705). The river, which is narrower than most waterways designated as rivers in the United States,^{[ citation needed ]} is a protected public recreation area surrounded by parks and hiking trails, managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.

The river flows from Jamaica Pond through Olmsted Park's Wards Pond, Willow Pond, and Leverett Pond. It then flows through a conduit under Route 9 and into a narrow park called the Riverway, from which it flows through three culverts: the Riverway Culvert, the Brookline Avenue Culvert, and the Avenue Louis Pasteur Culvert. The Muddy River continues from the Fens toward its connection with the Charles River via the Charlesgate area, running through a stone-paved channel surrounded by a narrow strip of parklands. In a series of stone bridges and tunnels, it passes under Boylston Street, Massachusetts Turnpike, Commonwealth Avenue, Storrow Drive, and a series of elevated connecting ramps (the Bowker Overpass).

History

In its natural state, the outlet of the Muddy River into the tidal Charles was much wider. It formed the eastern Brookline border with Boston and Roxbury (depending on the year), from Brookline's incorporation in 1705 until Boston's annexation of Allston–Brighton in 1873.^[1]

The present form of the river and surrounding parks was created by the Emerald Necklace project, between 1880 and 1900. Under the direction of designer Frederick Law Olmsted, the project reclaimed marshland, creating sculpted and planted riverbanks.

The Muddy River is mentioned by John Winthrop in his diary as the site of an unidentified flying object in March 1638 or 1639, as described to him by witness James Everell.^[2]^{[ non-primary source needed ]} This event is considered by some^{[ who? ]} to be the first recorded instance of such occurrences.^{[ citation needed ]} John Hull and Judith Quincy Hull owned the property. Judge Sewall came into possession of this tract, which embraced more than 350 acres, through Hannah Quincy Hull (Sewall) who was the Hull's only daughter. John Hull in his youth lived in Muddy River Hamlet, in a little house which stood near the Sears Memorial Church. Hull removed to Boston, where he amassed a large fortune for those days. Judge Sewall probably never lived on his Brookline estate.^[3]

Restoration

The restoration is currently^{[ as of? ]} being run by The Maintenance and Management Oversight Committee (MMOC), which is an “independent citizen-led oversight body for the Muddy River Restoration Project,”^[4] The master plan was originally pushed by the Boston's Parks and Recreation Department, along with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency among others. United States Army Corps of Engineers was allowed to study the Muddy River thanks to the Water Resources Development Act of 1996 ^[5]

Phase 1 of the project aimed to create new river crossings, clearing things that blocked sunlight to the river, as well as replanting the river edge to both beautify and help build habitat for the local wildlife.^[6] Phase 1 was completed successfully in 2016 with the planting of 230 trees and daylighting of the area.^[7] According to Margaret Dyson, director of Historic Parks at Boston Parks and Recreation, Phase 2 is about dredging the river to help with reducing the damage from flooding, as well as additional work in the river itself.^[7] Phase 2 has not been welcomed with open arms however. At the presentation of Phase 2 in 2018, the Boston Landmarks Commission had an issue with a large concrete wall that was planned to be built in order to help with the flooding. The committee was not thrilled about the wall, citing the fact that they didn't want such a glaring piece of concrete next to the river. They agreed to approve the rest of the plan however, as long as the Parks Department came back to the commission with a better plan for the wall.^[7] Currently, the project is expected to resume construction in 2020.^[8]^{[ needs update ]}

Related Research Articles

Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and part of the Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Allston, Fenway–Kenmore, Mission Hill, Jamaica Plain, and West Roxbury. The city of Newton lies to the west of Brookline. Brookline was first settled in 1638 as a hamlet in Boston, known as Muddy River; it was incorporated as a separate town in 1705.

The Back Bay Fens, often called The Fens, is a parkland and urban wild in Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. It was established in 1879. Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted to serve as a link in the Emerald Necklace park system, the Fens gives its name to the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood.

Fenway–Kenmore is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. While it is considered one neighborhood for administrative purposes, it is composed of numerous distinct sections that, in casual conversation, are almost always referred to as "Fenway", "the Fenway", "Kenmore Square", or "Kenmore". Furthermore, the Fenway neighborhood is divided into two sub-neighborhoods commonly referred to as East Fenway/Symphony and West Fenway.

The Emerald Necklace consists of a 1,100-acre chain of parks linked by parkways and waterways in Boston and Brookline, Massachusetts. It was designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, and gets its name from the way the planned chain appears to hang from the "neck" of the Boston peninsula. In 1989, the Emerald Necklace was designated as a Boston Landmark by the Boston Landmarks Commission.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamaica Pond</span>

Jamaica Pond is a kettle lake, part of the Emerald Necklace of parks in Boston designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. The pond and park are in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, close to the border of Brookline. It is the source of the Muddy River, which drains into the lower Charles River.^{USGS 2005}

Olmsted Park is a linear park in Boston and Brookline, Massachusetts, and a part of Boston's Emerald Necklace of connected parks and parkways. Originally named Leverett Park, in 1900 it was renamed to honor its designer, Frederick Law Olmsted.

Franklin Park, a partially wooded 527-acre (2.13 km²) parkland in the Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, and Dorchester neighborhoods of Boston, Massachusetts, is maintained by the City of Boston Parks and Recreation Department. It is Boston's biggest park and the site of Franklin Park Zoo. It was designated a Boston Landmark by the Boston Landmarks Commission in August 1980.

Jamaicaway is a four-lane, undivided parkway in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts near the border of Brookline.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riverway</span>

Riverway, also referred to as "the Riverway," is a parkway in Boston, Massachusetts. The parkway is a link in the Emerald Necklace system of parks and parkways designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in the 1890s. Starting at the Landmark Center end of the Back Bay Fens, the parkway follows the path of the Muddy River south to Olmsted Park across a stone bridge over Route 9 near Brookline Village. The road and its associated park form Boston's western border with neighboring Brookline and are popular with nearby local residents in both municipalities.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linear park</span> Long strip of naturally occurring land for recreation

A linear park is a type of park that is significantly longer than it is wide. These linear parks are strips of public land running along canals, rivers, streams, defensive walls, electrical lines, or highways and shorelines. Examples of linear parks include everything from wildlife corridors to riverways to trails, capturing the broadest sense of the word. Other examples include rail trails, which are disused railroad beds converted for recreational use by removing existing structures. Commonly, these linear parks result from the public and private sectors acting on the dense urban need for open green space. Linear parks stretch through urban areas, coming through as a solution for the lack of space and need for urban greenery. They also effectively connect different neighborhoods in dense urban areas as a result, and create places that are ideal for activities such as jogging or walking. Linear parks may also be categorized as greenways. In Australia, a linear park along the coast is known as a foreshoreway. When being designed, linear parks appear unique as they are planned around the public's opinion of how the space will affect them.

Brookline Avenue is a principal urban artery in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It runs from Kenmore Square in the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood, forming a 1.5-mile straight line to its other terminus at Washington Street in the Brookline Village neighborhood of Brookline, Massachusetts. The Landmark Center, Fenway Park, Emmanuel College, Longwood Medical and Academic Area and Kenmore Square are sites along its length.

Pill Hill, also known as "High Street Hill," is a neighborhood of Brookline, Massachusetts, United States, and part of Greater Boston.

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.

Hammond Pond Parkway is a historic parkway in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. The road, built in 1932, extends 2 miles (3.2 km) from Hobart Road in Newton to Horace James Circle in Brookline, where it joins the West Roxbury Parkway. It was designed by Charles Eliot and the Olmsted Brothers to provide a parkway setting that provided access from Brookline, Newton, and the western portions of Boston to the southern parks of the Emerald Necklace. The parkway was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

Muddy River may refer to:

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.

Stony Brook is a 8.5-mile (13.7 km)-long subterranean river in Boston. The largest tributary stream of the lower Charles River, it runs mostly through conduits. Stony Brook originates at Turtle Pond in the Stony Brook Reservation and flows through Hyde Park, Roslindale, Jamaica Plain, and Roxbury. It empties into the Charles River Basin just upstream of the Harvard Bridge. Stony Brook is fed by four tributaries, all of which are partially or entirely in conduits as well.

The Longwood Historic District is roughly bounded by Chapel, St. Marys, Monmouth, and Kent Sts. in Brookline, Massachusetts. The area was developed in the mid-19th century by David Sears and Amos Adams Lawrence as a fashionable residential area, and retains a number of architecturally distinguished buildings, including the Longwood Towers complex at 20 Chapel Street, Christ's Church Longwood, and Church of Our Saviour, Brookline. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 13, 1978.

References

↑ See map at File:Dorchester 1858.jpg
↑ Winthrop, John (1996). The Journal of John Wintrop 1630-1649. ISBN 9780674484269 . Retrieved 11 February 2015.
↑ "The Sewall House". Proceedings of the Brookline Historical Society. January 28, 1903.
↑ Brady, Tom. "The Muddy River: A Century of Change" (PDF).
↑ "New England District > Missions > Projects/Topics > Muddy River". www.nae.usace.army.mil. Retrieved 2019-11-20.
↑ Gershwin, Fran. "Update on the Muddy River Restoration Project" (PDF). National Association for Olmsted Parks.
1 2 3 "Parks Department proposes Phase 2 of Muddy River project – Mission Hill Gazette". missionhillgazette.com. 2 November 2018. Retrieved 2019-11-20.
↑ "Muddy River Project Restoration Overview" . Retrieved 2019-11-20.

External links

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[1] See map at File:Dorchester 1858.jpg

[2] Winthrop, John (1996). The Journal of John Wintrop 1630-1649. ISBN 9780674484269 . Retrieved 11 February 2015.

[3] "The Sewall House". Proceedings of the Brookline Historical Society. January 28, 1903.

[4] Brady, Tom. "The Muddy River: A Century of Change" (PDF).

[5] "New England District > Missions > Projects/Topics > Muddy River". www.nae.usace.army.mil. Retrieved 2019-11-20.

[6] Gershwin, Fran. "Update on the Muddy River Restoration Project" (PDF). National Association for Olmsted Parks.

[:0-7] 1 2 3 "Parks Department proposes Phase 2 of Muddy River project – Mission Hill Gazette". missionhillgazette.com. 2 November 2018. Retrieved 2019-11-20.

[8] "Muddy River Project Restoration Overview" . Retrieved 2019-11-20.

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