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