Boston Public Garden

Boston Public Garden
National Register of Historic Places
National Historic Landmark District
The garden looks east from the entrance on Arlington Street, with the Boston skyline in the background
location	Boston
Coordinates	42 ° 21 '14.8 "  N , 71 ° 4' 11.8"  W Coordinates: 42 ° 21 '14.8 "  N , 71 ° 4' 11.8"  W.
surface	97,000 m²
Built	1837
NRHP number	(Original) 87000761 (New) 72000144 (Original) 87000761 (New)
Data
The NRHP added	July 12, 1972 (original, including Boston Common ) February 27, 1987 (new, excluding Boston Common)
As  NHLD declared	February 27, 1987

The Boston Public Garden is a large, in the center of Boston in the state of Massachusetts of the United States situated city park right next to the Boston Common .

history

Boston Public Garden with the famous swan boats

The park was founded as the first botanical garden in the United States in 1837 by the philanthropist Horace Gray , who bought the land against much opposition from the city government. In fact, it wasn't until 1856 that he received the building permit.

In October 1859, Alderman Crane presented a detailed plan for the garden to the city council, which approved it. Shortly afterwards, construction work began on the property. The lake was completed in the same year, and the wrought-iron fence was completed in 1862 . Today there is a small island on the north side of the lake, which was originally a peninsula . This was so popular with lovers that the then city forester John Galvin decided to remove the connection to the country.

The approximately 97,000 square meter area was a salt marsh when it was founded , which was redesigned by George Meacham . In 1859, the Massachusetts General Court ruled that the garden should be kept open to the public in the long term. Today the park is jointly managed by the mayor's office, the Boston City Parks Department, and Friends of the Public Garden.

The park was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 as a National Historic Landmark .

Swan boats

A dock for the swan boat fleet in the Public Garden

The swan boats used on the lake of the Public Garden are open, flat pleasure boats in which passengers can navigate the lake from April to September. The swan boats have been in operation since 1877 and have become an important and nationally known part of the city's leisure activities over the years. The original design of the boats was inspired by the Lohengrin opera and has only been changed slightly to this day. The oldest boat still in service dates from 1918, the youngest was built in 1995. The drive is carried out by a single driver using muscle power via a pedal drive, which works similarly to a conventional pedal boat .

Others

The park is the setting of one of the most famous American children's books: Make Way for Ducklings tells the dangerous journey of a family of ducks into the park.

See also

• List of entries on the National Register of Historic Places in northern Boston
• List of National Historic Landmarks in Boston

Web links

Commons : Boston Public Garden  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

• Friends of the Public Garden website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Horace Gray: Father of the Boston Public Garden. Brighton Allston Historical Society, accessed 29. September 2012 (English). 
2. ↑ ^{a b} Wendy Kellogg: Nature's Neighborhood: Urban Environmental History and Neighborhood Planning . In: Journal of the American Planning Association . tape 68 , no. 4 . Taylor & Francis, 2002, ISSN  0194-4363 , OCLC 726927366 .
3. ^ The New England magazine . tape 24 . New England Magazine Co., 1901, ISSN  2154-6223 , OCLC 7568653 , p. 346 .
4. ↑ Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Massachusetts. National Park Service , accessed August 6, 2019.
5. ^ The Swan Boats of Boston. Retrieved April 12, 2013 .