Mystic River Reservation

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Mystic River Reservation

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A view of the park and the Mystic Valley Parkway in Arlington

The Mystic River Reservation is a publicly owned nature preserve located along the Mystic River in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It forms part of the 75-square-mile (190 km2) Mystic River watershed, and runs through the towns of Winchester, Arlington, Medford, Somerville, Everett, and Chelsea.[1]

The reservation was established in 1893 by the newly formed Metropolitan Parks Commission (later renamed the Metropolitan District Commission),[2] making it one of the first official nature preserves in Massachusetts, and one of five designed by the commission in that year.[3] Of these five, three were planned as woodland river reservations: the Mystic River Reservation, Charles River Reservation, and Neponset River Reservation.[2] The Mystic River Reservation originally comprised a little over 100 hectares (250 acres) of land.[3]

By the early 20th century, most of the land along the Mystic River in Medford, Arlington, and Somerville had become public (i.e. state-owned) land.[1] The reservation is currently maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) Bureau of Urban Parks and Recreation.[2]

A walking path (a dry section of the former Middlesex Canal) near George Shannon Beach in Massachusetts

The reservation includes four waterfront parks: Draw Seven Park in Somerville; Torbert MacDonald Park in Medford; the Mystic Lakes in Winchester, Arlington, and Medford; and Mary O'Malley Waterfront Park in Chelsea.[4] The reservation is open to the public year round, from dawn to dusk.[5]

In 2010, the DCR unveiled a plan for restoring and preserving the reservation, called the Mystic River Master Plan. Proposed projects include a partnership between the DCR and the City of Medford to restore the Condon Shell (an outdoor amphitheater located just outside Medford Square); restoration of the Amelia Earhart Dam Basin parklands; and a $3.6 million federally funded link between the reservation, the Minuteman Bikeway, and the Alewife "T" Station.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b State Releases Mystic River Master Plan. insidemedford.com (2010-09-16). Retrieved on 2011-05-28.
  2. ^ a b c Department of Conservation and Recreation. Mass.gov. Retrieved on 2011-05-28.
  3. ^ a b Board of Paris Exposition Managers (Boston, Mass.); Massachusetts. Board of Metropolitan Park Commissioners (1900). A history and description of the Boston metropolitan parks. Published under the authority of the Metropolitan Park Commissioners by the Board of Paris Exposition Managers. pp. 1–. http://books.google.com/books?id=n9IUAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA32. Retrieved 28 May 2011. 
  4. ^ Mystic River Reservation – Somerville, MA Patch. Somerville.patch.com. Retrieved on 2011-05-28.
  5. ^ Department of Conservation and Recreation. Mass.gov. Retrieved on 2011-05-28.
  6. ^ State Releases Mystic River Master Plan. insidemedford.com (2010-09-16). Retrieved on 2011-05-28.

External links

Coordinates: 42°29′47.778″N 71°19′5.1312″W / 42.496605°N 71.318092°W / 42.496605; -71.318092


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