Boston Public Garden facts for kids

Boston Public Garden
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark District
The Public Garden looking east from the Arlington Street entrance, with the skyline of Boston's financial district, 2007
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Location	Boston, Massachusetts
Area	24 acres (97,000 m2)
Built	1837
NRHP reference No.	72000144 (original) 87000761 (new)
Quick facts for kids Significant dates
Added to NRHP	July 12, 1972 (original, in NRHP also including Boston Common) February 27, 1987 (new, as NHL of Boston Public Garden alone)
Designated NHLD	February 27, 1987

The Public Garden, also known as Boston Public Garden, is a big, beautiful park right in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts. It's next to the famous Boston Common. This garden is part of the Emerald Necklace, a cool system of parks in the city. It's surrounded by Charles Street, Beacon Street, Arlington Street, and Boylston Street. The Public Garden was actually the very first public botanical garden in America.

History of the Boston Public Garden

The land where the Public Garden sits today used to be mudflats. This area, known as Back Bay, was filled in starting in the early 1800s. The Public Garden's land was among the first parts to be filled. Charles Street, which borders the garden, was once used by ropemakers since 1796. The city of Boston allowed them to use the land after a fire destroyed their old rope-making areas. They had to build a seawall and fill in the land as part of the deal.

Much of the dirt and gravel used for filling came from Mount Vernon, a hill in the Beacon Hill area. At first, workers moved the material by hand. Later, a special gravity railroad was built to speed things up. Today, Mount Vernon hill is completely gone, as all its material was used to create new land in the Back Bay.

In 1824, Boston bought the land back from the ropemakers. A year later, a plan to turn it into a graveyard was rejected. The Public Garden was officially created in 1837. A kind person named Horace Gray asked for the land to be used as America's first public botanical garden. By 1839, a group called "Horace Gray and Associates" was formed to create the garden. Even so, there was always pressure to sell the land for building houses.

In 1859, a detailed plan for the garden was approved. Construction started quickly. The pond was finished that year, and a wrought iron fence was put up around the garden in 1862. The pond originally had a peninsula, but it was later separated to create a small island.

The garden's design was created by George F. Meacham. The paths and flower beds were planned by James Slade and John Galvin. The design included many fountains and statues, which were added in the late 1860s. The most famous statue is probably the one of George Washington, made in 1869 by Thomas Ball. It stands at the western entrance. The special suspension bridge over the pond was also built in 1869.

At first, gas lamps lit the garden at night. But in 1883, electric lamps began to be installed. Some people worried that electric wires would spoil the garden's look. However, electric lights were eventually put in to replace gas lamps and help prevent vandalism.

A flagpole stands on the eastern side of the garden today. The first flagpole was hit by lightning in 1918. A new one was built in 1920. In 1982, a circular granite bench was added around the pole by the Friends of the Public Garden.

In 1913, the City Council put the garden and the Boston Common under the city's Public Grounds Department. For many years, walking on the grass was not allowed, and people could be arrested for it. Today, you can sit on the grass, except in certain areas where signs say not to.

In 2008, a modern sprinkler system was installed. This system helps water the many different plants and areas of the garden.

The side of the Public Garden along Charles Street used to be a messy, smelly dumping ground. It was also the lowest part of the garden. Plans to fix this area had been around for a long time, but moving enough soil was too expensive. This changed in 1895 when soil from the excavation of the Tremont Street subway became available. This soil was used to raise and improve the Charles Street sides of both the Garden and the Common.

The Public Garden is managed by the Mayor's Office, the City of Boston's Parks Department, and a non-profit group called the Friends of the Public Garden. It was named a Boston Landmark in 1977 and a National Historic Landmark in 1987.

Exploring the Public Garden

Maid of the Mist statue of Venus and the George Washington statue

Swan boats tied up (2017)

The Public Garden and the Boston Common together form the start of the Emerald Necklace. This is a long chain of parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. While the Common is mostly open space, the Public Garden has a pond and many beautiful flower beds. These plantings are cared for by the city and change with the seasons.

The garden is mostly flat and designed like an English landscape garden. A straight path, including a bridge over the pond, connects the Charles and Arlington street entrances. But most of its other paths are winding and not symmetrical.

The Public Garden is shaped like a rectangle. It's bordered by Boylston Street to the south, Arlington Street to the west, and Beacon Street to the north. Charles Street separates the Public Garden from the Common. The park area that connects the Public Garden to the rest of the Emerald Necklace runs down the middle of Commonwealth Avenue.

The Pond and Swan Boats

During warmer months, the 4 acres (16,000 m²) pond is home to many ducks and swans. A very popular attraction is the Swan Boats, which started running in 1877. For a small fee, you can ride on a boat shaped like a white swan. A tour guide pedals the boat around the pond from inside the swan.

The current pair of swans are mute swans named Romeo and Juliet. Fun fact: it was later discovered that both swans are actually female!

The pond is only about three feet deep at its deepest point. This means it freezes easily in winter. In 1879, the city council wanted to use the pond for ice skating. Today, there's an official skating rink at Frog Pond on the Common instead.

The pond used to have health concerns because it was fed by a mix of salt water, sewer water, and fresh water. This caused a thick slime and a bad smell. Because of this, the garden caretakers now drain and clean the pond every year.

Beautiful Plantings

The Public Garden has many types of permanent flowers, including roses, bulbs, and flowering shrubs. The flower beds along the main path are replanted often throughout the year. They feature different flowers for each season, from mid-spring to early autumn. The plants come from 14 greenhouses that the city runs at Franklin Park.

The Public Garden also has a wide variety of native and imported trees. You'll see weeping willows around the pond and European and American elms along the paths. Other notable trees include horse chestnuts, dawn redwoods, European beeches, ginkgo trees, and even a California redwood.

Here are some of the other interesting trees you can find:

Statues and Structures in the Garden

Equestrian statue of George Washington, designed by Thomas Ball

Many statues are located throughout the Public Garden.

• At the Arlington Street entrance, facing Commonwealth Avenue, is the impressive equestrian statue of George Washington. It was designed by Thomas Ball and unveiled in 1869. The bronze statue is 16 feet tall and stands on a 16-foot granite base, making it 38 feet tall in total.
• Just north of the Washington statue is Mary E. Moore's "Small Child Fountain".
• The Ether Monument, in the northwest corner, remembers the first time ether was used as an anesthetic (to make people feel no pain during surgery). It was designed by John Quincy Adams Ward and given to the city in 1868. It's the oldest monument in the garden.
• North of the Ether Monument is Daniel Chester French and Henry Bacon's memorial fountain for Boston helper George Robert White. It's called "The Angel of the Waters" and was made in 1924. It was fixed and restored in 2016.
• The first statue in the Garden made by a woman is Anna Coleman Ladd's Triton Babies Fountain on the east side. It features her two daughters.
• Bashka Paeff's "Boy and Bird" is on the west side. The artist was a Russian immigrant who created the model while working at a train station.
• Lillian Saarinen's "Bagheera" statue, showing the panther from Kipling's Jungle Book, is almost hidden by a tree.
• A set of bronze statues by Nancy Schön from 1987 is based on the famous children's book Make Way for Ducklings. You can find them between the pond and the Charles and Beacon streets entrance.
• At the east gate on Charles Street is a bronze statue of Edward Everett Hale by Bela Pratt, added in 1913.
• Along the south walk is a statue of Wendell Phillips (1811–1884), a speaker and abolitionist who fought to end slavery. It was put up in 1915.
• Colonel Thomas Cass, who led soldiers in the American Civil War, is also remembered on the south walk. His statue was put up in 1899.
• Next to the Cass statue is Thomas Ball's statue of Charles Sumner. He was a senator from Massachusetts during the Civil War era. This statue was built in 1878.
• The walk also has a statue of Tadeusz Kościuszko. He was a Polish citizen who fought as a Colonel in the American Revolution. The statue was made by artist Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson in 1927.
• A statue of William Ellery Channing stands at the southwest corner, facing the Arlington Street Church. It was completed in 1903.
• The Boston Public Garden Foot Bridge crosses the pond. It opened in 1867 and was once the world's shortest working suspension bridge. It was changed to a girder bridge in 1921, so its suspension system is now just for decoration.
• A Japanese garden lantern from 1587 was given to Boston in 1906. It's one of the oldest lanterns of its kind and was originally in a palace garden in Kyoto, Japan.
• In 2004, a memorial was dedicated to the 206 people from Massachusetts who died in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It's located near the corner of Arlington and Newbury streets.
• At the start of the bridge, near the Swan Boat steps, is a plaque honoring Marine Lt. Michael P. Quinn. He was from Charlestown and died in action in Vietnam in 1969.

Care and Upkeep

The City of Boston helps maintain the park. A charity called the Friends of the Public Garden, also known as the Rose Brigade, also helps a lot. This group helped pay to fix the Ether Monument and hires experts to care for the trees and bushes. Volunteers regularly meet to trim and care for the plants. Financial help also comes from groups like the Beacon Hill Garden Club.

Gallery

Images for kids

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  1850 plan for the Public Garden (not adopted)

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  The pond drained for maintenance

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  The swan pond at the Boston Public Garden with a view of the Arlington Street Church steeple.

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  Drawing of the Public Garden in 1850, facing east. Note the empty foreground: where the Back Bay neighborhood is today, mudflats are seen in this drawing.

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  An 1899 drawing of the Common and garden. Compared to 49 years earlier, the Back Bay is now completely filled in, and the garden much more closely resembles that of today.

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  A 2017 satellite image of the Common and garden.