The Preservation of Natural Spaces in the Greater Boston area
- Date Range
- 1893 – 1900
- Title
- The Preservation of Natural Spaces in the Greater Boston area
- What occurred
- In 1893, Charles Eliot and the Metropolitan Park Commission created a plan with the goal of creating a vast open space network for that suburbs on the outskirts of Boston. Because of this plan, the Mystic Lakes and the Mystic River in Arlington became reservations. The Mystic River was an important area because the river flowed through numerous towns and flowed right into the Boston Harbor. This was a major part of travel in the Greater Boston area before the introduction of railroads and automobiles. Included in this plan were two other destinations that are very close to Arlington, the Middlesex Fells, in Medford, Massachusetts, and Fresh Pond, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Middlesex Fells was a large forest preserve that took up roughly 2,000 acres across numerous towns in the Greater Boston area. The Middlesex Fells also was where local water supply reservoirs were located. Fresh Pond, in Cambridge, is a location of great importance to me. I spent a great deal of my childhood here because my grandparents lived a few minutes away. This was an area that was created for its beauty and for public enjoyment.
- Location
- 16 Mystic Bank, Arlington, MA 02474
- Image Citation
- Mystic River - Mystic River Watershed Association - mysticriver.org
- Student name(s)
- Tim Mazzei