Verdant Boston Common has hosted auctions, cattle
grazing, and public hangings over its 350-year history, in addition to
festivals and the requisite frisbee tosses. The adjacent Public Garden,
opened in 1839, was the USA’s first botanical garden. Its swan boats,
weeping willows, and bridge are emblematic of Boston at its most
enchanting. The French-style flowerbeds may only bloom in warmer months,
but the garden exudes old-world charm year round.
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Bounded by Beacon, Park, Tremont, Arlington, & Boylston streets
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“T” station: Park Street (red/green line), Boylston, & Arlington stops (both green line)
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Open 24 hours
Boston Common Visitors’ Center
Boston Parks & Recreation
Swan boat rides
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Boston Common and
Public Garden may seem like solitary urban oases, but they are two links
in a greater chain of green space that stretches all the way through
Boston to the suburb of Roxbury. The Emerald Necklace, as this chain is
called, was completed in 1896 by Frederick Law Olmsted, the man behind
New York’s Central Park.
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Plan of Boston Common & Public Garden
Sign for Boston Common
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Quick, food court-style bites can be had inside the Corner shopping center, at Washington and Summer streets.
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The Commonwealth Shakespeare Company stages free performances during summer. Contact 617 482 9393 or www.freeshakespeare.org
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Top 10 Attractions
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Shaw Memorial
Augustus
Saint Gaudens’ lifelike bronze pays homage to the “Fighting 54th” – one
of the only entirely African-American regiments in the Civil War. Led
by Boston native Robert Shaw, the 54th amassed an impressive battle
record.
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Soldiers & Sailors Monument
Over
25,000 Union Army veterans remembered their fallen Civil War comrades
at the 1877 dedication of Martin Milmore’s impressive memorial.
Bas-reliefs depict the soldiers’ and sailors’ departure to and return
from war.
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Frog Pond
During
summer, children splash under the iridescent spray of the pond’s
fountains. Come winter, kids of all ages lace up their skates and take
to the ice. Skate rentals and hot chocolate are available at the nearby
hut.
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Parkman Bandstand
Built in 1912 to honor George Parkman, a benefactor of the park, the bandstand is modeled after Versailles’ Temple d’Amour. In summer it hosts everything from concerts to graduations.
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Make Way for Ducklings Statuettes
Eight
duckling statues have sprung from the pages of Robert McCloskey’s kids’
book and fallen in line behind their mother at the lagoon’s edge.
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Founders’ Memorial
William Blaxton, Boston’s first white settler, is depicted greeting John Winthrop in John F Paramino’s 1930 bronze. Note the word “Shawmut” – the Native American name for the land that would become Boston.
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Lagoon Bridge
This
elegant 1869 span over the lagoon is often mistaken for a suspension
bridge, a tribute to the architect’s clever design. It is a favorite
spot for wedding pictures.
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Swan Boats
Summer
hasn’t officially arrived in Boston until the swan boats emerge from
hibernation and glide onto the Public Garden pond. With their gracefully
arching necks and brilliantly painted bills, each distinctive swan boat
can accommodate up to 20 people.
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Bronze of George Washington
The
nation’s first president cuts a stately figure at the western end of
the Public Garden. Thomas Ball’s 1869 bronze was the first to depict
George Washington astride a horse.
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Ether Monument
This
1868 statue commemorates the first etherized operation, which took
place at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1846. Controversial from the
outset, this is the West’s only monument to the powers of a drug.