Boston: Boston Common and Public Garden Map

Boston Common [1634] is America’s first public park — 50 acres purchased at the edge of the colonial town for the common use as a place to train soldiers and graze cattle. For 200 years residents walked through the Common’s treeless meadows on informal paths. Colonial and British soldiers camped and marched here. The grazing cows were evicted from the Common in 1830, when the city’s growth surrounded the park. Starting with George Washington, all US presidents have walked its paths.