PARK AND CRMETERY 
256 
PLAN FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OP THE 
BACK BAY. BOSTON. OLMSTED BROTHERS, 
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS. 
Figures represent intended elevation of surface 
above mean low water of Charles River. 
SCENE ALONG THE RIVERWAY, BOSTON METROPOLITAN PARK SYSTEM. 
telligent appre- 
ciation of de- 
sign, of artistic 
contrast, of 
poetic natural- 
ness created 
without affecta- 
tion or caprice 
will approve the 
design as being 
one of admira- 
b 1 e adaptation 
to the require- 
ments of the 
surrou n d i n g s 
and the com- 
munity and one 
providing a sim- 
ply subdued 
scenery which 
wears well. 
This plan met with the hearty approval of the 
Board of Park Commissioners and the City Council. 
During its construction it was proposed to extend the 
improvement to include the small vale and water course 
extending from the Back Bay to Jamaica Pond. About 
a mile of its lower portion was subject to the influence 
of tides and had the usual character of a meandering 
salt water creek. The marshy surface was from fifteen 
to twenty feet below the general level of the adjoining 
uplands upon which streets were hitherto laid out with 
disregard to the improvement contemplated and the 
eventual necessity of the neighborhood. Development 
had previously been with a principal object of making 
the site available for the immediate rather than the 
best use of sub- 
urban resi- 
dences. To 
adequately pro- 
vide for the 
sanitation a n d 
means of transit 
through this 
tract was sup- 
posed to be 
equivalent to ex- 
pending a sum 
of money quite 
disproportionate 
to the imme- 
diately enhanced 
taxable value of 
tbe local sur- 
roundings af- 
fected. It was 
however ex- 
ecuted on the as- 
sumption that a 
natural e x t e n- 
sion of compact- 
ly built blocks 
would follow 
and that delay in 
providing ade- 
quate and proper 
relief from much 
occupatio n 
would result in 
added inconven- 
ience and would 
cost much more to correct when finally undertaken. 
Furthermore it is probable that delay would cause the 
erection of undignified, cheap and even repellant struc- 
tures thereby losing to the city the otherwise greater 
revenue and beauty resulting. 
With modifications the existing channel has been 
preserved and upon its side drives have been con- 
structed and the slopes planted so as to secure a gen- 
eral wildness and a simple, subdued type of scenery, 
waters are kept at a nearly uniform level and 
Its 
guarded from defilement by intercepting sewers, etc. 
From the lower end the parkway continues through 
the valley skirting several ponds formed by draining 
the lower reaches of the brook below Jamaica Pond. 
