| Charles River Reservation | |
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| Location | Middlesex County, Massachusetts andSuffolk County, Massachusetts, United States |
| Coordinates | 42°21′14″N71°06′43″W / 42.3539862°N 71.1119968°W /42.3539862; -71.1119968[1] |
| Area | 863 acres (349 ha)[2] |
| Elevation | 10 ft (3.0 m)[1] |
| Established | 1910 |
| Administrator | Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation |
| Website | Official website |
Charles River Basin Historic District | |
| Location | Both banks of Charles River from Eliot Bridge to Charles River Dam, Cambridge, Massachusetts |
| Coordinates | 42°21′09″N71°06′16″W / 42.35250°N 71.10444°W /42.35250; -71.10444 (Charles River Basin Historic District) |
| Area | 820 acres (330 ha) |
| Built | 1893 |
| Architect | Multiple |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival, Classical Revival, Moderne |
| NRHP reference No. | 78000436 |
| Added to NRHP | December 22, 1978 |
Charles River Reservation is a 17-mile-long (27 km) urban preserve and public recreation area located along the banks of theCharles River inBoston,Cambridge,Watertown, andNewton,Massachusetts. Thereservation is managed by theMassachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. The portion of the reservation between theCharles River Dam and theEliot Bridge is listed as ahistoric district on theNational Register of Historic Places. This includes the park in theBack Bay neighborhood of Boston known as theEsplanade. The Charles River above theWatertown Dam is managed as theUpper Charles River Reservation.[3]
Features of the reservation include the Charles River Dam, the Charles River Basin, the Boston and CambridgeEsplanades, andJohn F. Kennedy Park.
The 1978Charles River Dam, located behind theTD Garden, controls the water level in the river basin. An earlier dam (seeCharles River Dam Bridge), located beneath theMuseum of Science, was completed in 1910 with the purpose of creating a fresh water river basin and riverfront park in Boston and Cambridge. As part of the dam construction, fill was added between theLongfellow Bridge and Charlesgate and dedicated as the Boston Embankment, now universally known as the Esplanade. The modern dam houses six pumps that provide flood control protection. The dam'slock system permits travel of recreational and commercial vessels from the river to the harbor year round. Afish passage allows for passage ofanadromousfish (alewife,rainbow smelt andshad) during the migration season in late spring.[3]
Created in 1910 by damming the formerly tidal river and permanently flooding thetidal marshes andmud flats, the Charles River Basin was designed to provide a "water park" for city dwellers, with access to outstanding river scenery and recreational opportunities on both water and land.
Though entirely designed—and in that sense artificial—the Basin is also awildlifehabitat for hundreds of animal and plant species that play a role in the ecology of the region and enrich the experience of urban park users. Water quality in the once heavily polluted Basin has improved dramatically in recent years, creating better habitat for wildlife and attracting people back to the river.[4]
The character of the Basin changes along this 8.5-mile (13.7 km) stretch, forming three discernible zones: the Lower Basin, from the 1910 Charles River Dam to theBoston University Bridge; the Middle Basin, from the BU Bridge to Herter Park, and the Upper Basin, from Herter Park to the Watertown Dam. The Lower Basin is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long and up to 2,000 feet (610 m) wide. The panoramas in the Lower Basin define the image of Boston and Cambridge. TheLongfellow Bridge is a powerful presence in the Lower Basin, as are the slope ofBeacon Hill and the gold dome of theState House. Particular park sections within the reservation, such asMagazine Beach and Herter Park, provide intensely used open space for the bordering urban neighborhoods.[5]
The Middle Basin is a zone of transition from urban and formal to rural and more natural. Parkways lining the Charles River Basin separate the esplanades in Boston and Cambridge from the nearby neighborhoods. The largest open space is between theHarvard University athletic fields on the south andMount Auburn and Cambridge cemeteries on the north. Together, these areas form a critical oasis for migrating birds.
Frederick Law Olmsted's 1889 design for Charlesbank created the first public space along the river. It included a promenade along the water's edge, as well as the first public outdoorgymnasiums in the United States, one for women and girls near the Longfellow Bridge and one for men and boys near Leverett Street (now Leverett Circle).[6]
The 5-acre (2.0 ha) John F. Kennedy Park located nearHarvard Square is landscaped with plants that bloom at the time of the President's Maybirthday and a memorialfountain. The park, designed by Carol R. Johnson Associates of Boston, uses materials indigenous toNew England including native trees, and thegranite fountain and the entrance pillars are inscribed with quotations from the President's speeches.[7]
Riverbend Park extends on the north side of the Charles, from theEliot Bridge to Western Ave. in Cambridge. In 1974 Isabella Halsted (who lived on Memorial Drive) circulated a letter asking if neighbors would support closing the Drive to vehicles on Sundays from spring to fall. She may have been familiar with the closing of sections of Rock Creek Parkway in Washington, D.C. A portion of the drive was blocked off for the first time the following year. For nine years, the private Trust for Riverbend Park raised funds to cover the cost of the road closing. In 1985 the state legislature authorized and funded the permanent closing of the road from April to November.[8][9]
The reservation's multiple recreational opportunities include cycling on theCharles River Bike Paths, motorized and non-motorized boating, playgrounds, picnicking, swimming pools, tennis courts, ice skating, and concerts at theHatch Memorial Shell.[3] Sailboat rentals are offered through the non-profitCommunity Boating, Inc.[10] A quarter mile (400 meter)Braille trail is located in Watertown, near the foot of Irving Street.[11]
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