2(33 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
THE METROPOLITAN PARK SYSTEM OF BOSTON 
Within a radius of thirteen miles from 
the State House in Boston is comprised 
what is known as the metropolitan dis- 
trict which contains thirt5r-nine cities 
and towns having Boston as their nu- 
cleus, and with a population at the pres- 
ent time of more than one million. 
As the result of a meeting of various 
public bodies and institutions, the Metro- 
politan Parks commission was formed 
in 3 893. The commission consisted of a 
board of five members selected by the 
governor of Massachusetts from the 
leading men of the communit}^, who were 
given full powers to obtain land for 
park purposes for the Metropolitan 
Parks District as it is now called. 
Immediately after its formation, the 
commission selected for its landscape 
architects the firm of Olmsted, Olm- 
sted and Eliot, of which its youngest 
member, Mr. Charles Eliot, had been 
largely instrumental in promoting the 
idea of metropolitan parks. Mr. Eliot, a 
son of President Eliot of Harvard Uni- 
versity, had been closely associated with- 
Mr. Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., who 
planned most of the great parks of this 
country and the municipal parks of Bos- 
ton among others ; and Mr. Eliot had, 
moreover, a few years previously made a 
profound study of the public and private 
parks of Europe and England in prepar- 
ation for his future pfofession. 
On account of the above facts and 
from his thorough knowledge of the to- 
pography of Massachusetts, Mr. Eliot 
was selected as being especially adapted 
to the task of writing the first report to 
the metropolitan parks commission. In 
the areas of country that have since been 
taken for parks, or reservations, the sug- 
gestions embodied in this report have 
been almost exactly followed. 
In the European parks, Mr. Eliot had 
been much impressed with the manner 
in which the water ways in or near the 
large cities had been beautified and made 
to contribute so largely to the enjoyment 
of the public, notably at Hamburg, Ger- 
m.any, and the Thames, at London. Thus 
he earnestly recommended that as much 
as possible of the banks of the three 
rivers, the Mystic, Charles and Neponset, 
which, rising in the rim of the metropoli- 
tan district, flow through it and empty 
into Boston Bay, should be obtained for 
park purposes, and the beaches and 
shores bordering Boston Harbor as well. 
By act of the state legislature, the cit- 
ies and towns in the metropolitan dis- 
trict were taxed in proportion to their 
ability to pay for the contemplated im- 
provements and maintenance of the 
parks. Thus, in two years after its ap- 
pointment, the commission had obtained 
possession of, or expected to have, more 
large pleasure grounds than were owned 
by any other public authority in North 
America, excepting the governments of 
the United States and Canada. 
The park areas which have been ac- 
quired are of three general classes, 
woods, beaches and rivers, and it is said 
that no city in the world, excepting Ven- 
ice, has made as good use of the facili- 
ties offered for recreation upon harbor 
waters as has Boston. 
The most important tract as regards 
size is the Blue Hills Reservation which 
has an area of 4,858 acres, lying in five 
townships, and situated eight miles south 
of the state house. It consists of a ridge 
of hilly land, principally covered by a 
thick growth of native timber from five 
to twenty-five years of age. There are 
some fine old trees here, notably white 
pines and elms which latter mark the 
sites of old farms. The original forest 
fell long since beneath the woodman’s 
ax, as have fallen successive growths. 
The principal point of interest here is 
the Great Blue Hill, 635 feet above the 
sea level, the highest point of land on 
the Atlantic Coast between Maine and 
Mexico. An observatory stands here 
erected by Mr. Abbott Lawrence Rotch 
in 1884 where meteorological observa- 
tions are daily taken, and aeronautical 
observations the first Thursday of each 
month as is the custom in similar sta- 
tions throughout the country. This sum- 
mit was used for scientific purposes as 
early as 1830. 
An extensive and magnificent view is 
obtained from this summit beginning 
w'ith the mountains of New Hampshire 
in the northwest and extending to the 
hills of Rhode Island to the southwest; 
including the lofty peaks of Monadnock 
and Wachusett; and comprising many 
towns including Boston; the Neponset 
River winding along for miles ; several 
bodies of water, among others Hoosic- 
whisick Pond, in the reservation, a fa- 
vorite boating and picnicing place ; and 
