Boston Harbor Islands State Park Was Estab- Has the Potential to Be Just That

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Boston Harbor Islands State Park Was Estab- Has the Potential to Be Just That 21 limits to the general public for nearly two-thirds of the Boston Harbor Islands twentieth With the advent of nuclear century. weapons, State Park however, islands lying only a few miles off a coast lost much and the Commonwealth of of their strategic significance, , We want to create the best harbor ’ Massachusetts began acquiring the islands in Boston Harbor; park system in the world because it in 1974, the Boston Harbor Islands State Park was estab- has the potential to be just that. lished. Public visitation has been encouraged since then, and -Govemor Michael S. Dukakis, George’s Island, 1986 public campgrounds have been established on Lovell’s, and Peddock’s islands. service from Grape, Bumpkin, Ferry The Boston Harbor islands are a to Island makes it for Long Wharf, Boston, George’s possible remarkable resource, permitting people to take advantage of the free-of-charge water-taxi recreational and educational service provided by the Commonwealth from May until opportunities rarely found in an October to several of the Boston Harbor islands. Interpreta- urban setting. Though the Bos- ton skyline is rarely out of view, the islands have a wild character, providing a resting spot for mi- grating birds and city residents alike. People can camp on the islands or visit for the day, expe- riencing the forces of the sea and the wilds. Easily accessible via inexpensive ferry boats from Long Wharf, connected to each other by a free water taxi, the islands are destinations for resi- dents of every Boston neighbor- hood and the region, as well as tourists who venture out for pic- nics, school outings, and discov- ery. ’, Thirty-one islands are pres- ently owned by public agencies; seven are staffed during the sum- mer months as Boston Harbor State Park. The park is jointly Map of the Boston Harbor islands. Copyright © 1987 by The managed by the Metropolitan Christian Science Publishing Society. District Commission (MDC), which owns George’s, Lovell’s, and Peddock’s islands; and by the tion of the islands’ natural history and ecology is now pro- Department of Environmental which owns vided by island managers, who are coordinated through the Management, Massachusetts of Environmental Grape, Bumpkin, Gallop’s, Great Department Management Brewster islands and of the Volunteer service in and many (DEM). appreciation interpretation smaller islands. The City of Bos- of this state has been the Friends of unique park provided by i~ ton owns three islands which the Boston Harbor Islands. have yet to be included in the park: Long, Spectacle, and Rains- The Islands’ Plants ford islands. Each island in the The flora of the Boston Harbor islands reflects man’s impact park has its own history and its upon the landscape, and few undisturbed patches of native own present and potential uses- plants remain. The American Indians used to retreat to the in sum, the islands are a unique 22 resource of national-park qual- water-taxi hub and site of Fort sible by automobile, is the site of ity. Warren, a national Historic land- the Long Island Hospital and the The islands are drumlins (gla- mark-is by far the most heavily remnants of Fort Strong. Sum- cial hills) and rock outcroppings visited island, with its picnic mer work crews have begun to ranging in size from less than one grounds, concession stand, and clean up the island and it figures acre to over two hundred acres. running water. In recent years an prominently in the dreams of Seasonally occupied by Native intensive educational program many Boston environmentalists Americans, who harvested an has been developed on George’s and Harbor-lovers, though it is abundance of shellfish, the is- Island, providing programs to not in the park or open to the lands were used by Puritan colo- some 15,000 school children, public yet. Spectacle Island, a nists as wood lots and pasture including 2,000 Boston school former dump site, also remains lands. Over the years, the islands children, and to over 15,000 outside the park and is closed to were used for quarantine and summer visitors. In spite of the the public. Thompson Island, chronic disease hospitals, farm- much-lauded improvements, the privately owned by the Th- lands and dumping sites, though island has pressing needs for ompson Island Educational Cen- it is military uses which have left safety and visitor service im- ter, is undergoing a change in the most visible traces on the provements and there is a grow- management, though its focus islands. Starting before the Revo- ing desire to restore crumbling will continue to be on youth lution and increasing before the Fort Warren. development. Civil War and during the Lovell’s, Gallop’s, Bumpkin, Working with groups like the Spanish-American War, the is- and Grape Islands are all quieter Friends of the Boston Harbor Is- lands became the site of a series than George’s Island and are pri- lands, MDC and DEM continue of massive fortifications, leaving marily used by campers and oth- to expand these unique re- us such notable artifacts as forts ers seeking tranquility. Acces- sources. But many problems Warren, Andrews, Strong, and sible by free water taxi, they have remain: balancing the preserva- Standish. a primitive quality with no elec- tion of natural and cultural re- After World War II the islands tricity or running water. Staff sources with the need to provide were essentially abandoned by provide tours during the sum- for increasing numbers of visi- the military, but visionary citi- mer, focusing on the natural his- tors ; the huge costs of developingg zens and legislators saw the pos- tory of the islands and the sur- and maintaining island sites; sibilities for recreational, educa- rounding harbor. Great Brewster bringing in fresh water and dis- tional, and historic preservation Island, which is far out in the posing of sewage and solid waste; activities. In 1958, the MDC harbor and primarily accessible and the need for interagency acquired George’s and Lovell’s by private boats, is the wildest cooperation as well as coopera- islands and began developing and quietest of the staffed is- tion with the City of Boston. Yet them as parks. In 1970 with the lands, home to nesting birds and everyone agrees: the islands are creation of the Boston Harbor seasonal resort for lovers of soli- beautiful and deserve continued Islands State Park, the Depart- tude. development as natural, cul- ment of Natural Resources, now Peddock’s Island, the largest of tural, and recreational resources the Department of Environ- the islands now in the park, has for the benefit of Bostonians, mental Management (DEM), also forty-five private cottages on it residents of the Commonwealth, began acquiring and developing and twenty-eight buildings of and visitors. They hold vast edu- islands. Both agencies cleaned up Fort Andrews, in various stages cational and recreational poten- their islands, repairing seawalls, of disrepair. Though open to the tial for the young people of Bos- building piers, cutting trails, and public, much of the park is not ton and for us all. creating campsites; and both accessible because of safety prob- -Excetpted from The Gzeemng of staff the lems and the of the Boston An Action Agenda, pages began providing during presence pri- 60,62. summer months. Today the is- vate cottagers. Yet even in its lands are visited by upwards of current state, Peddock’s is a fas- 200,000 people annually, and the cinating place to explore. season is expanding. Long Island, the largest in the George’s Island-ferry and Harbor and the only one acces-.
Recommended publications
  • The Changing Flora of the Boston Harbor Islands
    The Changing Flora of the Boston Harbor Islands Dale F. Levering, Jr. After more than three and one-half centuries of vicissitude, the deciduous forest that once covered the Boston Harbor islands may have begun to return Situated just to the north of the sandy, up- ing animals, the Eastern Deciduous Forest- lifted coastal plain of Cape Cod and just to the which was dominated by broad-leaved, south of the rocky coastline of northern New round-topped deciduous trees (as opposed to England, the Boston Harbor islands consti- needle-leaved, spire-topped evergreens)-was tute a unique maritime ecosystem. To the a richer source of food for the colonists than south of the Harbor, pines dominate the the evergreen forests to the north and south. sandy, mineral-deficient soil where the land No doubt this was one reason the English meets the sea; to the north, hemlock, white settled northward, rather than southward, pine, spruce, and fir. Some twenty thousand from Plymouth. years ago, when the Pleistocene ice sheet was The present-day vegetation of Moswe- at its maximum, the shoreline lay approxi- tusset Hummock, a small island situated at mately thirty miles east of where it does now; the northern end of Wollaston Beach in when the glacier first began to recede, what Quincy, is perhaps the closest indication we are now the Boston Harbor islands were ex- will ever have of what the Boston Harbor posed as high spots on what was then the islands’ vegetation looked like at the time of mainland. Alluvium from the Boston Basin English settlement.
    [Show full text]
  • Ocm06220211.Pdf
    THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS--- : Foster F__urcO-lo, Governor METROP--�-��OLITAN DISTRICT COM MISSION; - PARKS DIVISION. HISTORY AND MASTER PLAN GEORGES ISLAND AND FORT WARREN 0 BOSTON HARBOR John E. Maloney, Commissioner Milton Cook Charles W. Greenough Associate Commissioners John Hill Charles J. McCarty Prepared By SHURCLIFF & MERRILL, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL CONSULTANT MINOR H. McLAIN . .. .' MAY 1960 , t :. � ,\ �:· !:'/,/ I , Lf; :: .. 1 1 " ' � : '• 600-3-60-927339 Publication of This Document Approved by Bernard Solomon. State Purchasing Agent Estimated cost per copy: $ 3.S2e « \ '< � <: .' '\' , � : 10 - r- /16/ /If( ��c..c��_c.� t � o� rJ 7;1,,,.._,03 � .i ?:,, r12··"- 4 ,-1. ' I" -po �� ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We wish to acknowledge with thanks the assistance, information and interest extended by Region Five of the National Park Service; the Na­ tional Archives and Records Service; the Waterfront Committee of the Quincy-South Shore Chamber of Commerce; the Boston Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy; Lieutenant Commander Preston Lincoln, USN, Curator of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion; Mr. Richard Parkhurst, former Chairman of Boston Port Authority; Brigardier General E. F. Periera, World War 11 Battery Commander at Fort Warren; Mr. Edward Rowe Snow, the noted historian; Mr. Hector Campbel I; the ABC Vending Company and the Wilson Line of Massachusetts. We also wish to thank Metropolitan District Commission Police Captain Daniel Connor and Capt. Andrew Sweeney for their assistance in providing transport to and from the Island. Reproductions of photographic materials are by George M. Cushing. COVER The cover shows Fort Warren and George's Island on January 2, 1958.
    [Show full text]
  • Microfilm Publication M617, Returns from U.S
    Publication Number: M-617 Publication Title: Returns from U.S. Military Posts, 1800-1916 Date Published: 1968 RETURNS FROM U.S. MILITARY POSTS, 1800-1916 On the 1550 rolls of this microfilm publication, M617, are reproduced returns from U.S. military posts from the early 1800's to 1916, with a few returns extending through 1917. Most of the returns are part of Record Group 94, Records of the Adjutant General's Office; the remainder is part of Record Group 393, Records of United States Army Continental Commands, 1821-1920, and Record Group 395, Records of United States Army Overseas Operations and Commands, 1898-1942. The commanding officer of every post, as well ad commanders of all other bodies of troops such as department, division, brigade, regiment, or detachment, was required by Army Regulations to submit a return (a type of personnel report) to The Adjutant General at specified intervals, usually monthly, on forms provided by that office. Several additions and modifications were made in the form over the years, but basically it was designed to show the units that were stationed at a particular post and their strength, the names and duties of the officers, the number of officers present and absent, a listing of official communications received, and a record of events. In the early 19th century the form used for the post return usually was the same as the one used for regimental or organizational returns. Printed forms were issued by the Adjutant General’s Office, but more commonly used were manuscript forms patterned after the printed forms.
    [Show full text]
  • The Civil War Defenses of Washington
    I 29.58/3: C 49/PT.2/DRAFT Clemson Universi* 3 1604 016 848 964 A Historic Resources Study: The Civil War Defenses of Washington PUBLIC DEPOSITORY ITEM OCT 1 7 2006 FEDERAL CLfctvioON PUBl CATIOH PAP>" A Historic Resources Study: The Civil War Defenses of Washington Part II United States Department of Interior National Park Service National Capital Region Washington, DC Contract No. 144CX300096053 Prepared by CEHP, Incorporated Chevy Chase, Maryland Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from LYRASIS Members and Sloan Foundation http://archive.org/details/historicresource02nati A Historic Resources Study: The Civil War Defenses of Washington Part II Table Contents Chapter I: Silenced Guns Chapter II: The "Fort-Capped Hills" Chapter III: The Fort Park System Bibliography Appendices* Appendices are under separate cover Chapter I Silenced Guns Civil Defenses of Washington Historic Resource Study Page 2 DRAFT Chapter I - June 1998 Abandonment of the Fortifications Following Confederate General Jubal A. Early's Raid on Washington, DC, the threat to the nation's capital diminished considerably. Many units formerly stationed at one of the forts in the Defenses of Wash- ington found themselves in the field, most likely in the Army of the Potomac, and possibly converted from artillery to infantry. No additional Confederate invasions or attacks on the Defenses of Washington oc- curred. 1 After the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia's surrender at Appomattox, VA, on April 9, 1 865, the Defenses ofWashington performed its last military function of the Civil War. In the midst of Washington's exuberant celebrations, "The chain of forts around the city, and batteries of field artillery between, made a ring of cannons around the city which were fired in rotation for several hours.
    [Show full text]
  • Historic Context for Department of Defense Facilities World War Ii Permanent Construction
    DEPARTMeNT OF DEFENSE FACILITIES- WORLD WAR II PERMANENT CONSTRUhttp://aee-www.apgea.army.mil:8080/prod/usaee!eqlconserv/ww2pel.htm ~ - Delivery Order 21 Contract No. DACW31-89-D-0059 US Army Corps of Engineers-Baltimore District HISTORIC CONTEXT FOR DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FACILITIES WORLD WAR II PERMANENT CONSTRUCTION May 1997 R. Christopher Goodwin and Associates, Inc. 241 E. Fourth Street Suite 100 Frederick, Maryland 21701 FINAL REPORT June 1997 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Historic Context for Department of Defense (DoD) World War H Permanent Construction combines two previous reports: Historic Context for Department of Defense Facilities World War H Permanent Construction (Hirrel et al., draft June 1994) and Methodology for World War H Permanent Construction (Whelan, draft August 1996). This project was designed to meet the following objectives: • To analyze and synthesize historical data on the military's permanent construction program during World War H. • To assist DoD cultural resource managers and other DoD personnel with fulfilling their responsibilities under the National Historic Preservation Act (NHP A) of 1966, as amended. Section 110 of the NHPA requires federal agencies to identity, evaluate, and nominate to the National Register of Historic Places historic properties under their jurisdiction. Section 110 Guidelines, developed by the National Park Service, U.S. Department ofthe Interior, direct federal agencies to establish historic contexts to identifY and evaluate historic properties (53FR 4727-46). • To develop a consistent historic context framework that provides comparative data and background information in a cost-effective manner, which will allow DoD personnel to assess the relative significance of World War II military construction.
    [Show full text]
  • Massachusetts Militia Claims
    30'^^-' 6 COLLECr/_ UNWEHS^TV BROCK : o T r Dor- T>J- i IN SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, December 29M, 1829. JResolved, That the report of the Secretary of War, made to the House of Representatives, on the 10th day of May, A. D. 1828, upon the subject of the claims of the State of Massachusetts for certain services rendered during the late war, be printed for the use of the Senate. Attest WALTER LOWRIE, Secretary/. 2d Session. MASSACHUSETTS MILITIA CLAIMS. LETTER * FROM THE SECRETARY OF WAR, Transmitting, in pursuance of a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 15th Dec 4? 1826, a report upon the s\ibject of the CL.AI3IS OF THE STATE OP 3IASSACIIUSETTS F'OR CERTAIN SERVICES RENDERED DURING THE LATE WAR. Mat 10, 1828. —Read, and laid upon the table. December 5, 1828 . —Printed by order of the House of Representatives Department op War, Mai/ 9, 1828. resolution of the of Sir : In obedience to a House Representatives, of the 15th of December, 1826, directing "that the Committee of the Whole House be discharged from the further consideration of the bill to authorize the settlement and payment of the claim of the State of Massachusetts for certain services rendered during the late war ; that the same, with the claim of Massachusetts for military services, be referred to the Secretary of War; and that he be instructed to report to this House what classes, and what amount of said claim, may be allowed and paid, upon the principle and luiles which have been applied to the adjustment of claims of other States, for mi- litary services, during the late war, and to which the assumed authority of the Governor of that State to control the Militia, and to judge of the neces- sity of ordering them into service, does not apply ; and also, if an}- parts of said claim are disallowed, to state the reasons for wliich the same are re- jected ;" I have the honor to transmit, herewith, a copy of my inslruclions to the Third Auditor, marked A, and his report, with accompanying docu- ments, marked B, in fulfilment of the duty assigned me by the above reso- lution.
    [Show full text]
  • History of the Fifty-Fourth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry
    HISTORY OF THE Fifty-Fourth Regiment OF iWajSjsaci^uisettsj Volunteer ^nlantvv, 1863-1865. BY LUIS F. EMILIO. BOSTON: THE BOSTON BOOK COMPANY. 1891. s ^6 T//e old flag never touched the groiDid, hoys.' Sergt. William H. Carney, of Co. C With the flag he saved at ^VAGNE^. A.3?f?t^ 9 J <..^ Copyright^ 1891, ,/ Luis F. Emilio. John Wilson and Son, Cambridge. PREFACE. THIS record has grown out of the researches and material gathered for the preparation of papers rea'd before the officers of the Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth Massachusetts Infantry and other veteran associations at reunions in recent years, as well as newspaper articles. It is founded uppn the compiler's daily record of events, his letters of the period, contemporaneous records, and the very full journal of Lieut. John Ritchie, as well as a briefer one of Capt. Lewis Reed. To both these officers grateful acknowledgments are rendered. Thanks are also due to Lieut.-Cols. H. N. Hooker and George Pope for valuable records. Sergt-Major John H. Wilson, and Sergts. William H. Carney and Charles W. Lenox have furnished important particulars. Mention should be made of Capt. VI PREFACE. William C. Manning, Twenty-third U. S. Infantry, whose field notes were most thankfully received. Throughout the compilation Gen. A. S. Hartwell, Col. N. P. Hallowell, and Capt. Charles C. Soule, all of the Fifty-fifth Massachusetts Infantry, have manifested unflagging interest. L. F. E. No. 6 East 58th Street, New York City, Dec. 22, 1890. PUBLISHBKS' PREFACE. TT is twenty-six years since our Civil War ended, — nearly the span of a generation of men.
    [Show full text]
  • Birding the Boston Harbor Islands
    Birding the Boston Harbor Islands John Move Introduction Boston Harbor Islands After nearly a decade of lobbying by m Representatives Gerry Studds and Joe Moakley and Senator Edward Keimedy, the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area was created by an Act of * * Congress in 1996. Unique among sites in the National Parks system, it is managed by a partnership made up of the twelve owners and operators of the thirty islands named in the legislation together with several advocacy groups and the National Park Service (NPS) itself After a five-year process of study and public input, a management plan was recently released that will guide the park as it moves into the new millennium. Of interest to birders and to visitors in general is the recommendation that calls for increased public access to the islands. At the same time, several of the more remote islands, traditionally used by colonial nesting species, are to remain undeveloped. In operation since the early 1970s, the Boston Harbor Islands State Park, now a part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Park Area (the name it now goes by after Native Americans objected to using the phrase “recreation area” to describe islands on which some of their ancestors were imprisoned and died), is co-managed by the Massachusetts Department of Enviromnental Management (DEM) and the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC). Currently, six of the nineteen state-owned islands make up the nucleus of the Area, hosting nearly 125,000 visitors aimually. They are staffed seasonally and are accessible by ferry and water-taxi link from Boston as well as from the North and South Shores.
    [Show full text]
  • Histories of the Harbor Forts Defending Portsmouth, NH by Pete Payette, 2016
    Histories of the Harbor Forts Defending Portsmouth, NH by Pete Payette, 2016 Table of Contents Page Fort Washington 1775-1815 1 Fort Sullivan 1775-1874 2 Fort Constitution 1791-1948 3 Fort McClary 1808-1918 10 Fort Stark 1794-1948 12 Fort Foster 1873-1948 16 Camp Langdon 1909-1946 17 Fort Dearborn 1942-1948 19 Fort Washington, 1775-1815 Located on Peirce's Island, Fort Washington was built in 1775 under orders of Major General John Sullivan, overall commander of the Portsmouth harbor defenses at that time, to control the PiscataQua River at "the Narrows" and to provide crossfire with Fort Sullivan directly across the river on Seavey's Island. A log boom defense was placed in the river between the two forts. The fort was garrisoned by 180 men under the command of Captain Titus Salter from 1775-78. The garrison was also responsible for the security of the powder magazine in Portsmouth. The fort was designed by Captain Ezekiel Worthen, who also designed Fort Sullivan and the Clark's Point (Shaw’s Hill) Redoubt on New Castle Island, and who, with the rank of Major, later replaced General Sullivan as the overall commander of the Portsmouth harbor defenses. Peirce's Island was renamed "Isle of Washington" in 1776, in honor of General George Washington, who was then commander of the Army of New England in Cambridge, Massachusetts, during the siege of Boston. The fort was repaired and regarrisoned in 1814-15 during the War of 1812 when British warships blockaded the New England coast. The fort was in ruins by 1850, and was probably not used at all during the Civil War.
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Reports of the Selectmen, and Superintending School Committee Of
    cylnnual Report City- §r Franklin New Hampshire Year- ef 1920 Soldiers' c^^emorial Number COWHAMPSHIREBLOG.COM Containing the Names and Service Record gf Franklin o^Vlen and Women Who Served in ^ World War. COWHAMPSHIREBLOG.COM TWENTY-SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Municipal Government OF THE CITY OF FRANKLIN FOR THE Financial Year, 1920. COWHAMPSHIREBLOG.COM Franklin, N. H PRINTED BY TOWNE & ROBIE 1921. COWHAMPSHIREBLOG.COM COWHAMPSHIREBLOG.COM ; FRANKLIN MEN AND WOMEN IN THE WORLD WAR. Records as compiled from the reports returned to the Committee and preserved in the archives at the City Clerk's office. This list indiides a large number of Franklin men and Women whose names do not appear on the official lists as prepared by the State and Federal War offices. ARMY. COWHAMPSHIREBLOG.COM Adams, Charles W., Jr. 2nd Lieut. Battery A, 5th Regi- ment. First Division. Transferred July, 1918, to Intelligence Section G-2. Locations : Saumur Artillery School. France Cantigny Sector; LeHavre Intelligence School; Department of the Cote D'or. Ill with influenza at Rocquencourt, France Ma}^, 1918. Assignments: Battery Executive Officer, Ga? Officer, Camouflage Officer, Asst. Intelligence Officer, Depart- ment of the Cote D'or; Attached to American Peace Com- mission, Paris, -February to Maj?-, 1919. Previous service: S 5. U., No. 30, American Ambulance Service, France : Verdur Sector and Aisne Sector—July to November, 1917, with French Army. Term of service: December 16, 1917 to May 6, 1919. Allard, John J., Sergeant Machine Gun Company, 103rd Regiment, 26th Division. Locations: Camps Keyes, N. H.- Camp Bartlett, Massachusetts, Camp Borden. England : A E. F.
    [Show full text]
  • The Civil War Defenses of Washington Part I: Appendices
    A Historic Resources Study: The Civil War Defenses of Washington Part I: Appendices A Historic Resources Study: The Civil War Defenses of Washington Part I: Appendices United States Department of Interior National Park Service National Capital Region Washington, DC Contract No. 144CX300096053 Modification# 1 Prepared by CEHP, Incorporated Chevy Chase, Maryland A Historic Resources Study: The Civil War Defens es of Washington Part I Appendices Appendix A: Alphabetical Listing of Forts, Batteries, and Blockhouses Appendix B: Alphabetical Listing of Known Fortification Owners, Their Representatives, and Fortifications on Their Land Appendix C: Naming of Forts Appendix D: Correspondence Concerning Appropriations for the Defenses of Washington Appendix E: General Reports about the Defenses Appendix F: Supplement to Commission Report Appendix G: Mostly Orders Pertaining to the Defenses of Washington Appendix H: A Sampling of Correspondence, Reports, Orders, Etc., Relating to the Battle of Fort Stevens Appendix I: Civil War Defenses of Washington Chronology Bibliography Appendix A. Alphabetical Listing of Forts,. Batteries, and Blockhouses Civil War Defenses of Washington Page A-1 Historic Resources Study Part I-Appendix A Appendix A: Alphabetical Listing of Forts, Batteries, and Blockhouses Fortification Known Landowner or their Representative Fort Albany James Roach and heirs, J.R. Johnson Battery Bailey Shoemaker family Fort Baker · Sarah E. Anderson, Ann A.C. Naylor & Susan M. Naylor Fort Barnard Philip J. Buckey, Sewall B. Corbettt Fort Bennett Wm. B. Ross, Attorney John H. Bogue, B.B. Lloyd Fort Berry Sewall B. Corbettt Blockhouse south of Fort Ellsworth Elizabeth Studds' heirs, George Studds Blockhouse between Fort Ellsworth & Fort Lyon, also battery Henry Studds Fort Bunker Hill Henry Quinn Fort C.F.
    [Show full text]
  • Ocm30840849-5.Pdf (2.204Mb)
    XT y. rf lJ:r-, Metropolitan District Commission)nj FACILITY GUIDE A " Metropolitan Parks Centennial • 1893-1993 "Preserving the past.,, protecting the future. The Metropolitan District Commission is a unique multi-service agency with broad responsibihties for the preservation, main- tenance and enhancement of the natural, scenic, historic and aesthetic qualities of the environment within the thirty-four cit- ies and towns of metropolitan Boston. As city and town boundaries follow the middle of a river or bisect an important woodland, a metropolitan organization that can manage the entire natural resource as a single entity is essential to its protec- tion. Since 1893, the Metropolitan District Com- mission has preserved the region's unique resources and landscape character by ac- quiring and protecting park lands, river corridors and coastal areas; reclaiming and restoring abused and neglected sites and setting aside areas of great scenic beauty as reservations for the refreshment, recrea- tion and health of the region's residents. This open space is connected by a network Charles Eliot, the principle of landscaped parkways and bridges that force behind today's MDC. are extensions of the parks themselves. The Commission is also responsible for a scape for the enjoyment of its intrinsic val- vast watershed and reservoir system, ues; providing programs for visitors to 120,000 acres of land and water resources, these properties to encourage appreciation that provides pure water from pristine and involvment with their responsible use, areas to 2.5 million people. These water- providing facilities for active recreation, shed lands are home to many rare and en- healthful exercise, and individual and dangered species and comprise the only team athletics; protecting and managing extensive wilderness areas of Massachu- both public and private watershed lands in setts.
    [Show full text]