Jamaica Pond

Saturday, April 26, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Muddy River Cleanup

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The Emerald Necklace Conservancy invites you to join them for this year’s Muddy River Cleanup on Saturday, April 26. The cleanup will take place at multiple locations: Charlesgate Park, Back Bay Fens, Riverway, Olmsted Park, Jamaica Pond, and two sites at Franklin Park. All volunteers will be required to wear a face covering and practice social distancing during the event. We advise that volunteers who feel ill within 72 hours of the event do not participate. All volunteers will be required to sign a COVID-19 volunteer waiver, along with our standard volunteer waiver, in order to participate.

The Muddy River Cleanup is a part of the Annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup; this event takes place throughout the Charles River Watershed and builds on a national effort as part of American Rivers’ National River Cleanup® which, to date, has removed over 25 million pounds of trash from America’s waterways. From 2016 to 2019, the Annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup was recognized by American Rivers for the Most Pounds of Trash Collected and Most Volunteers Mobilized.​

The Charles River Cleanup brings together over 3,000 volunteers each year to pick up litter, remove invasive species and assist with park maintenance along all 80 miles of the Charles River. Residents are drawn to the popular Charles River Cleanup from a desire to give back to their community while enjoying the beauty and wildlife along the river. Volunteers hold onto the connections they establish during this day of stewardship by returning to the Charles to exercise, play and enjoy nature throughout the year. Register for this year’s cleanup at emeraldnecklace.org

The Emerald Necklace Chamber Symphony

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We were first made aware of Andrew List’s composition by Jared Bowen on WGBH radio. To shamelessly quote from Microsoft News, “The Emerald Necklace” is a chamber symphony that spans 15 minutes and is broken up into three movements, each named for a portion of the 1,100-acre park system. The piece came together as a commission from the Boston Symphony Orchestra as part of its BSO in Residence Composers Project, a project started in 2017.

The first movement, titled “Man and Machinery Create the Jamaicaway,” relates to the idea of compression, employing a fast tempo and a fanfare of instruments. The second movement is titled “Evening at Jamaica Pond,” and embodies just that: a feeling of serenity as told through flute, clarinet, and other instrumental solos. To end the composition, the third movement, named “The Ancient Hunting Party At Spring Brook Village,” in what is now part of the Arnold Arboretum, depicts the long history of the land in terms of archaeological discoveries of materials used by indigenous peoples there. Each movement of the chamber symphony is available to listen to and download for free through a link on the Emerald Necklace Conservancy’s website.

Though the Emerald Necklace system remains open at this time, its website (www.emeraldnecklace.org) urges visitors to practice social distancing in accordance with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control. The parks can also be explored virtually.

Saturday, August 10, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm – Walking Tour of Jamaica Pond

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Travel around the Pond with the Jamaica Plain Historical Society on Saturday, August 10 from 11 – 12:30. Once a district that only included the houses of Boston’s elite, the Pond later was put to industrial use as tons of ice were harvested each winter. Learn about the movers and shakers such as Francis Parkman and James Michael Curley who made their homes on the Pond’s shores. Discover how the Pond was transformed from private estates and warehouses into the parkland we know today. 

The tour is free to the public. Tours last between 60 and 90 minutes and are canceled in case of heavy rain. No reservations are required, just meet the guide at the bandstand, 507 Jamaicaway in Jamaica Plain.

Saturday, August 11, 11:00 am – Historic Walking Tour of Jamaica Pond

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Please join The Jamaica Plain Historical Society for our 23rd season of historic walking tours. All JPHS tours are free to the public. All tours are held on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. sharp. Tours last between 60 and 90 minutes and are canceled in case of heavy rain. No reservations are required, just meet the guide at the location listed. On August 11, the tour will feature Jamaica Pond. Once a district that only included the houses of Boston’s elite, the Pond later was put to industrial use as tons of ice were harvested there each winter. Learn about the movers and shakers such as Francis Parkman and James Michael Curley who made their homes on the Pond’s shores. Discover how the Pond was transformed from private estates and warehouses into the parkland we know today.

Leaves from the Bandstand, Pond St. and Jamaicaway. For a complete list of other tours and dates, visit https://www.jphs.org/2018-walking-tours/

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Saturday, November 25, 9:00 am – 11:00 am – Learn and Burn

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The Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site is continuing what has become a holiday season “tradition” with the third annual Learn and Burn walk that offers a chance to learn about an Olmsted landscape and burn off calories from holiday meals. The last two years we were at Jamaica Pond. This year we are moving to Franklin Park. Sign up so you can get some exercise, and learn about Olmsted’s “country park” in the city! Rain or icy conditions will cancel. This walk is popular so sign up soon! Reservations are required by Wednesday, November 22 at noon. Visit https://www.nps.gov/frla/special-events.htm with name and contact information.

Wednesday, October 25, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm – Weird and Worrisome Tour

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All neighborhoods have secrets but some are stranger than others. Just in time for Halloween, we will explore Jamaica Plain in Boston. Participants will stop at sites of anarchist robberies, stuffed elephants, and a nervine asylum and hear tales of train wrecks and things that lurk beneath the surface of Jamaica Pond. The Massachusetts Historical Society tour is hosted in collaboration with the Emerald Necklace Conservancy and the Jamaica Plain Historical Society. Meet on Wednesday, October 25 at 6 at the Loring-Greenough House, 12 South Street in Jamaica Plain. $10 registration fee (no charge for MHS, ENC, or JPHS members.) Image from www.promptguides.com.

Sunday, October 8, 2:00 pm – George Bucknam Dorr: From Jamaica Pond to Commonwealth Avenue

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George Bucknam Dorr, known as the “Father of Acadia”, was the founder of the oldest national park east of the Mississippi River. The roots of George B. Dorr’s land conservation achievements are deeply embedded on the Jamaica Pond shoreline where he was born in 1853. Childhood exposure to other Massachusetts landscapes also shaped his later success on the mid-Maine coast. Throughout Dorr’s life, notables with attachments to Jamaica Plain–Charles S. Sargent, Edith Wharton, Francis Parkman, Ellen Swallow Richards, Henry & Charles P. Bowditch, Margaret Fuller, and Charles Eliot–kept the Father of Acadia National Park tethered to the place where he spent the first decade of his life. Speaker Ronald H. Epp is the author of Creating Acadia National Park: The Biography of George Bucknam Dorr and has spent the last two decades researching the Massachusetts families that influenced the development of conservation philanthropy.
Fee Free, but registration required. This October 8 lecture begins at 2 pm in the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum. Offered in collaboration with the Jamaica Plain Historical Society. Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.

Saturday, June 3, 8:00 am – Lace ’em Up: No Ordinary Tour

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Lace ’em Up: No Ordinary Tour:  On Saturday, June 3 beginning at 8 am, walk the entire Olmsted Emerald Necklace. Enjoy a seven-mile walk on a spring day through Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace—from the Fens to Franklin Park— with Conservancy President Karen Mauney-Brodek and some very special guests. Brief stops along the way will allow participants see recent park improvements and hear about the exciting things to come for the Emerald Necklace, considered by many to be one of the greatest park systems ever designed.

Starting at the Shattuck Visitor Center, the walk will traverse the Back Bay Fens to Charlesgate and continue along to the restored Muddy River, where the brand new Justine Mee Liff Park takes center stage overlooking the recently day-lighted river. From there, walkers will stroll the banks of the river along the Riverway, glimpsing, perhaps, the turtles and herons that are frequent visitors. Iconic structures loom large in this park—the picturesque Round House, bridle path and granite bridges.

Next up is Olmsted Park with its scenic waterways and ponds and on to Jamaica Pond where we’ll stop for a lunch break at Pinebank Promontory before heading to the Arnold Arboretum for some floral sights and scents. The walk continues on to Franklin Park, which Olmsted himself considered to be one of his greatest achievements. Participants will enjoy vistas that transport the viewer back in time — Schoolmaster Hill, the 99 Steps and Ellicott Arch, to name a few. This event has reached its capacity, but people’s plan change, so contact Jeanie Knox at jknox@emeraldnecklace.org or call 617-522-2700 to join the waiting list.

Saturday, August 8, 11:00 am – Historic Walking Tour of Jamaica Pond

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Join the Jamaica Plain Historical Society on a walk around the Jamaica Pond. Once a district that only included the houses of Boston’s elite, the Pond later was put to industrial use as tons of ice were harvested there each winter. Learn about the movers and shakers such as Francis Parkman, Pauline Agassiz Shaw, Emily Greene Balch and James Michael Curley who made their homes on the Pond’s shores. Discover how the Pond was transformed from private estates and warehouses into the parkland we know today.
All tours are free to the public. Tours last between 60 and 90 minutes and are canceled in case of heavy rain. No reservations are required, just meet the guide at the Jamaica Pond Bandstand, 570 Jamaicaway in Jamaica Plain. For more information visit www.jphs.org. Image from www.friendsofjamaicapond.org.

Sunday, December 7, 2:00 pm – Jamaica Pond & Boston’s Water System

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From the 1630 settlement of Boston, people needed a water supply. On Sunday, December 7 at 2 pm, Marcis Kempe, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Waterworks Museum and an avid water supply historian will discuss the early attempts by Boston residents to find drinking water on Shawmut peninsula. Attempts at wood pipe water systems led eventually to the construction of Boston’s 1796 Jamaica Pond Aqueduct Corporation which fulfilled a need for water supply piped directly into houses. Mr. Kempe will chronicle this story and that of 1848 Boston’s municipal water system that eventually replaced the wooden pipes. He will also discuss the further growth of the Metropolitan Boston water system at the turn of the century and the steps taken to protect the public from the growing pollution of water sources. Come and join the Jamaica Plain Historical Society to learn about the important people and events in the Jamaica Pond story and how this modest system grew into today’s nationally acclaimed Metropolitan Boston area water supply.

Free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. This event is being hosted by the Arnold Arboretum at 125 Arborway, so please check their website, www.arboretum.harvard.edu, for directions and parking instructions. Garden Club of the Back Bay members please note that our March excursion will be to the Metropolitan Waterworks Museum to hear Mr. Kempe speak.