146 



TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY 



BOSTON ZOOLOGICAL PARK' 



Reprinted from "Landscape Architecture" 



About thirty years ago, the late Fred- 

 erick Law Olmsted prepared a detailed 

 working plan for Franklin Park in Bos- 

 ton. The execution of this plan was car- 

 ried out in large measure during Olm- 

 sted's lifetime, but the portion of the 

 park along Seaver Street was left largely 

 unfinished, and is today practically un- 

 developed, with the exception that the 

 woodlands have been improved and the 

 grasslands cared for. This territory was 

 set apart for a collection of native 

 animals, together with a deer park and a 

 Little Folks' Fair, in which were to be 

 Merry-go-Rounds, Donkey Trains, and 

 other amusements for children. At dif- 

 ferent times during the last thirty years, 

 various movements have been put on foot 

 to establish a permanent zoological col- 

 lection in this portion of the park. Un- 

 fortunately, none of these schemes have 

 materialized for want of funds. Of late 

 the project for a zoo has been reawaken- 

 ed, and active construction work has been 

 undertaken under moneys secured from 

 the recent Parkman Bequest. 



In this age of great zoological collec- 

 tions, it has seemed best to provide a 

 more complete collection of animals than 

 that contemplated by Olmsted. The ex- 

 perience of many cities of this country 

 has shown that the public are not satis- 

 fied with a collection of native animals, 

 but require as a supplement the well- 

 known animals of the tropics. It is con- 

 templated at Boston to include specimens 

 from all parts of the world, although re- 

 taining, also, a large collection of animals 

 which will thrive in our climate during 

 the winter season out-of-doors. 



It should be carefully noted that the 

 zoo is not placed at random in the park, 

 but in a position where it will do no 

 violence to the quiet landscapes of the 

 composition, which need to be protected 

 in a substantial way from the distrac- 

 tions of a zoological collection. This 

 separation is effected by heights of land, 

 walls and by heavy plantings of high 

 woodland. That portion of the original 

 plan which provided for an extensive 

 Alameda, or "Greeting," has been modi- 

 fied to meet the modern requirements. 

 In the old days, this "greeting" was in- 

 tended to provide a meeting-place for 

 persons frequenting the park in carriages. 

 In recent years, the use of carriages 

 for pleasure purposes has been reduced 

 almost to nothing, and it seemed un- 

 wise to construct the "greeting" for its 

 original purpose. The position of the zoo 

 contemplates a wide mall of grass in 

 place of the original footways and car- 

 riageways, forming an imposing panel, 

 planted with rows of trees and measuring 

 in width two hundred and fifty feet, and 

 in length upward of half a mile. 



The scheme of the zoo is shown on the 

 general plan (Fig. 1). This scheme is 

 naturally divided by the contour of the 

 ground into two parts — one of a natural- 

 istic character on ground of so rugged a 

 contour that a formal layout was impos- 

 sible ; and the other of a symmetrical 

 character on the level ground, which was 

 designed originally for the "greeting." 

 The naturalistic scheme is unified by a 

 central path which meanders to fit the 

 contour of the ground and to display the 

 collection on its margins, intended to ac- 



*A paper by A. A. Shurtleflf. 



