Boston Common - America's Oldest Public Park

125 Boylston St Downtown, Boston, MA 02116

In 1634, the townspeople of Boston voted to tax each household six schillings for the purchase of William Blackstone's farm to be used as a community common.

The newly established Common served a combination of public, military, agricultural, and recreational purposes. In the 1600s and 1700s, companies of soldiers from Boston and surrounding communities performed military training on the Common. During the winter of 1775 and 1776, British soldiers installed artillery entrenchments on the Common, and a garrison of 1,700 soldiers remained encamped there. Other early public uses of the Common included public hangings and whippings. The Common also served agricultural purposes. The Common was a pasture for cattle from the time of its creation through the early decades of the 1800s. As an early example of "utilitarian" conservation, regulations protected the land from overgrazing by restricting the number of cattle each family could graze on the Common.

There were also indications the Common was a place for recreation as early as the 1660s. The Common still retains its original function for the people of Boston: a relaxing open space in a congested city. Boston Common is one of the nine parks that are part of the Emerald Necklace, a 1,100-acre chain of parks linked by parkways.

-Source Links-

https://www.nps.gov/places/boston-common-ma.htm