Mystic River Reservation
Mystic River Reservation | |
Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston | |
A view of the park and the Mystic Valley Parkway in Arlington
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Country | United States |
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State | Massachusetts |
Counties | Middlesex, Suffolk |
Cities/Towns | Winchester, Arlington, Medford, Somerville, Everett, Chelsea |
Elevation | 10 ft (3 m) [1] |
Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. [1] |
Area | 329 acres (133 ha) [2] |
Established | 1893 |
Management | Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation |
Website: Mystic River Reservation | |
![](/w/images/thumb/f/fa/WinchesterMA_MiddlesexCanalSegment.jpg/300px-WinchesterMA_MiddlesexCanalSegment.jpg)
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 nearly 76-square-mile (200 km2) Mystic River watershed,[3] and runs through the towns of Winchester, Arlington, Medford, Somerville, Everett, and Chelsea. 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—and is open to the public year-round from dawn to dusk.[4] The reservation is maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.
History
The reservation was established in 1893 by the newly formed Metropolitan Parks Commission (later renamed the Metropolitan District Commission),[5] making it one of the first official nature preserves in Massachusetts, and one of five designed by the commission in that year.[6] Of these five, three were planned as woodland river reservations: the Mystic River Reservation, Charles River Reservation, and Neponset River Reservation.[5] The Mystic River Reservation originally comprised a little over 100 hectares (250 acres) of land.[6] 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.[3][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.[3] The lower parkland is being redeveloped as part of Assembly Square construction.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mystic River Reservation. |
- Mystic River Reservation Department of Conservation and Recreation
- Mystic River Reservation Map Department of Conservation and Recreation
- Mystic River Reservation Bike Path Map Department of Conservation and Recreation
- Geobox usage tracking for protected area type
- Commons category link is defined as the pagename
- Nature reserves in Massachusetts
- Massachusetts natural resources
- Protected areas of Middlesex County, Massachusetts
- Environment of Massachusetts
- Protected areas of Suffolk County, Massachusetts
- Winchester, Massachusetts
- Arlington, Massachusetts
- Medford, Massachusetts
- Somerville, Massachusetts
- Everett, Massachusetts
- Chelsea, Massachusetts