Charles River Reservation is
a Massachusetts
state park located in
Boston
and Cambridge
. The park is managed by the
Department
of Conservation and Recreation ("DCR").
The portion of the
Reservation between the Charles River Dam
and the Eliot Bridge
is a Historic District.
Description
Note: Significant portions of the information below is sourced
from the DCR's website. See reference .
Charles River Reservation is a -long linear park along the
Charles River. Numerous recreational
opportunities are available.
Features of the park include the Charles River Dam, the Charles
River Basin and Esplanade, and
John F.
Kennedy Park, a small memorial park to the late
president.
Charles River Dam
The
Charles River Dam, located behind the TD Garden
, controls the water level in the river
basin. An earlier dam, located beneath the Museum of
Science
, was completed in 1910 with the purpose of creating
a fresh water river basin and riverfront park in Boston. The
newly landscaped banks of the river became known as the Charles
River Esplanade. The later dam, completed in 1978, houses six pumps
that provide flood control protection. The dam's
lock system permits travel of recreational and
commercial vessels from the river to the harbor year round. A fish
ladder allows for passage of
anadromous
fish (
alewife,
rainbow smelt and
shad)
during the migration season in late spring.
Charles River Basin and Esplanade
Created in the early 20th-century from
tidal
marshes and
mud flats, the Charles
River Basin was designed to provide city dwellers access to
outstanding river scenery and recreational opportunities on both
water and land. Though entirely designed—and in that sense
artificial—the Basin is also a
wildlife
habitat for hundreds of animal and
plant species that play a role in the ecology of the region and
enrich the experience of urban park users. Water quality in the
once heavily polluted Basin has improved dramatically in recent
years, creating better habitat for wildlife and attracting people
back to the river.
The
character of the Basin changes along this eight-and-one-half-mile
stretch, forming three discernible zones: the Lower Basin, from the
historic Charles River Dam to the Boston
University Bridge
; the Middle Basin, from the BU Bridge to Herter
Park, and the Upper Basin, from Herter Park to the Watertown
Dam. The Lower Basin is two and one-half miles long and up
to two thousand feet wide. The panoramas in the Lower Basin define
the image of Boston and Cambridge. Sweeping views of the skyline
from the seawalls are captivating.
The Longfellow Bridge
is a powerful presence in the Lower Basin, as are
the slope of Beacon
Hill and the gold dome of the State
House
. Particular park sections within the
Reservation, such as Magazine Beach and Herter Park, provide
intensely used open space for the bordering urban
neighborhoods.
The Middle Basin is a zone of transition from urban and formal to
rural and natural. Parkways lining the Charles River Basin separate
it from contiguous open spaces.
The largest open space is between the
Harvard
University
athletic fields on the south and Mount
Auburn
and Cambridge cemeteries on the north.
Together, these areas form a critical oasis for migrating
birds.
The Esplanade went through a major expansion in 1928, widening and
lengthening the park land. These improvements were aided by a one
million dollar donation from
Helen
Osbourne Storrow, in memory of her husband
James. It was during this expansion that
the first
lagoon was built, as well as the
Music Oval, where a temporary bandshell was placed. The summer of
1929 was the first year
Arthur
Fiedler and the
Boston Pops
performed on the Esplanade.
In 1941, the construction of the Hatch Memorial
Shell
gave the Pops, and a wide range of other artists
and performers, a first class stage for popular summer
events. Half a million people attend the Boston Pops concert
and fireworks display held there every
Independence Day. The Hatch Shell also
hosts more than seventy free public
concerts and
movies, and
special events—walkathons, races, and festivals such as
Earth Day—draw hundreds of thousands of additional
spectators each year.
Another major change to the Esplanade began in 1949, with the
construction of
Storrow Drive. To make
up for park land lost to the new road, additional islands were
built along the Esplanade. In the 1960s, the Esplanade was linked
to Herter Park in
Brighton,
and other upstream parks, with the construction of the Dr. Paul
Dudley White Bike path. This loop travels along the entire basin on
both the North and South sides of the river, and makes it
especially suitable for
biking,
inline skating, and
running.
Frederick Law Olmsted's 1889
design for Charlesbank included the first outdoor
gymnasium in the United States.
Community
Boating
was the country's first public boating
program. For a modest fee, thousands of people have learned
to sail on the Charles River. For those who prefer rowing,
Community Rowing, located at the Daly Rink on the Charles River in
Brighton, offers instruction to the public.
John F. Kennedy Park
A
memorial to President Kennedy, this site near Harvard
Square
is landscaped with plants that bloom at the time of
the President's May birthday and a memorial
fountain. The park uses
materials indigenous to New England
including native trees, and the granite for the foundation and the entrance pillars
which are inscribed with quotations from the President's
speeches.
Riverbend Park
Riverbend
Park extends on the north side of the Charles, from the Eliot Bridge to Western Ave. in Cambridge. Memorial Drive
here is closed to automobile traffic on Sundays during warmer
months.
Recreational Opportunities
References
- Department of Conservation and Recreation: Charles
River Reservation Retrieved June 30, 2006.
- http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/charlesRiver/recreation.htm
External links
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