Frederick Law Olmsted's The Emerald Necklace

The Emerald Necklace “We want a ground to which people may easily go when the day’s work is done, and where they may stroll for an hour, seeing, hearing, and feeling nothing of the bustle and jar of the streets where they shall, in effect, find the city put far away from them…”, Frederick Law Olmsted said of one of the oldest park systems in the country. In 1867 a bill for a Boston park was passed by the Massachusetts state legislature. Prior to this, Boston had no major park system except Boston Common. The park commissioners asked Olmsted’s advice for the layout and he designed a whole new park system. At the time, Boston was a noisy, dirty, and overcrowded city. The purpose of this park was to provide a break from the hectic city life. It would also fulfill a need for the entire city rather than just certain neighborhoods and all parts of the city would be connected through this park system. The park included the areas along the Charles River, Back Bay, Jamaica Pond, and West Roxbury. Boston Common and the Public Gardens in the center of the city began the park. From there, Commonwealth Avenue led to Back Bay Fens and followed the banks of the Muddy River to Jamaica Pond. A park strip called Arborway was added to join Jamaica Pond, Arnold Arboretum, and the entrance to Franklin Park. In all, the seven mile Emerald Necklace contained a string

It is divided into two sections. The Muddy River flows through the northern part of the park on its way to the Charles River. The southern part of the park includes three ponds, Ward’s Pond, Leverett’s Pond, and Willow Pond, and athletic fields. The park is heavily wooded because Olmsted preferred a sequence of open and closed landscapes. He wanted to reveal the natural features of the area to visitors. He did so by designing plant patterns and paths that create a series of pleasing