Boston Public Garden

Boston Public Garden, a twenty-four-acre landscape beside Boston Common, was the first public botanical garden in the United States and became a defining part of Boston’s civic identity. Created on filled Back Bay mudflats after years of political struggle and development pressure, its present form took shape from the eighteen fifties through the eighteen sixties with a pond, iron fence, bridge, and English landscape-style plan. Known for its formal flower beds, curving paths, varied trees, and four-acre lagoon, it has hosted the Swan Boats since eighteen seventy-seven. Its enduring importance rests on combining ornamental beauty, public recreation, and early urban botanical design.

Cambridge, Massachusetts · United States