Results: Boston Common
Published on 06/01/2023
According to Wikipedia, Boston Common (also known as the Common) is a public park in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest city park in the United States. Boston Common consists of 50 acres (20 ha) of land bounded by Tremont Street (139 Tremont St.), Park Street, Beacon Street, Charles Street, and Boylston Street. The Common is sometimes erroneously referred to as the "Boston Commons". This stems from its use as a town commons starting in 1634.
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1.
1.
Which of these facts about how Boston, Massachusetts originated are you familiar with?
William Blaxton was the first owner of the land. He had arrived in Massachusetts as chaplain to the Robert Gorges expedition that landed in Weymouth in 1623. Blaxton lived entirely alone for five years on the peninsula that became Boston.
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In 1630, Blaxton wrote a decisive letter to the Puritan group led by Isaac Johnson, whose nearby colony of Charlestown was then failing from lack of fresh water. Blaxton advertised the excellent natural springs of the peninsula and invited Johnson's group to settle with him on it, which they did on September 7, 1630.
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Johnson died less than three weeks later and Blaxton negotiated a grant of 50 acres around his home on the western edge of the peninsula from Governor John Winthrop.
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One of Johnson's last official acts as the leader of the Charleston community was to name the new settlement across the river Boston after his original home in Lincolnshire, England.
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Which of these Boston Common origination facts are you aware of?
Blaxton quickly tired of his Puritan neighbors and the difficulty of retaining such a large plot of land in a town that had grown to nearly 4,000 people by 1633. This led him to sell all but six of his 50 acres back to Winthrop in 1634.
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The governor purchased the land through a one-time tax on residents amounting to 6 shillings per person. Those 44 acres became the town commons of Boston and today form the bulk of Boston Common.
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The Common was used for a variety of purposes until its formal conversion into a public park during the 1830s. These uses gradually became more urban as the city developed, shifting from pastureland to military drilling field, execution grounds, public gathering place, and finally parkland.
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The Common was used as a military camp by the British before the American Revolutionary War, and it was from the Common that they set off for the Battle of Lexington and Concord.
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Which of these neighboring structures are you familiar with?
The Massachusetts State House stands across Beacon Street from the northern edge of the Common.
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The Boston Public Garden, a more formal landscaped park, lies to the west of the Common across Charles Street (and was originally considered an extension of the Common).
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The Masonic Grand Lodge of Massachusetts headquarters sits across from the southern corner of the Common at the intersection of Boylston and Tremont Streets.
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Across from the southern corner of the Common, along Boylston and Tremont Streets, lies the campus of Emerson College.
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Which of these notable recurring events on the Boston Common have you heard about?
Frog Pond Skating Spectacular at the Boston Tree Lighting and First Night Boston, featuring skaters from The Skating Club of Boston
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Commonwealth Shakespeare Company's Shakespeare on the Common and Boston Lyric Opera's Outdoor Opera Series
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Ancient Fishweir Project Installation Event and Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition's Freedom Rally
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Lighting of the Christmas tree gifted by Halifax, Nova Scotia and Fireworks display on the evening of December 31 as part of Boston's First Night celebration
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