The early history of the park’s development begins with the site being chosen to host the 1884-85 World’s Industrial and Cotton Exposition of the Centennial. To learn more about the exposition, visit our other tour “Audubon Park: Site of the 1884 Centennial Cotton Exposition”.

After the exposition, the New Orleans City Council created a new park commission in May 1886 to manage the park. In 1900, John Charles Olmsted was hired as the park’s designer. The implementation of his master plan took twenty years, mainly due to lack of funds. The plans were further delayed and altered by the board’s decisions to lease the park’s waterfront to the Corps of Engineers and to allow the construction of railroad tracks along the river and the operation of a sugar research station. Much of Olmsted’s original design was compromised to turn the neighborhood park into a place where “people from all backgrounds wanted to come to relax.” Such compromises included the addition of a variety of recreational facilities such as swimming, tennis, and softball. Most of these were funded by private donors as memorials. Numerous memorials installed at this time (1916-1920s) are still in place in the park today. They include the neoclassical entrance on St. Charles Avenue in the style of Moise Goldstein, numerous gazebos, the Emil Weill Grandstand with the Newman Orchestra, the Gambel Fountain, the Hyams Pool, and the Popp Flower Gardens.

In 1924, the number of visitors to the park exceeded one million annually. New Orleans native Mary Lou Widmer recalled her childhood walks in the park during the Depression.

Today, the park continues to thrive, as it has for over a century, as a Mecca for all outdoor recreation. People continue to visit the park to take full advantage of the “avenues of ancient live oaks, a tranquil 1.8-mile jogging trail, lagoon, picnic shelters, playgrounds, tennis courts, and soccer fields.” The park has been the site of numerous cancer walks, charity events, golf tournaments, and various fundraisers.

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The park was dedicated in 1835, making it one of the oldest public parks in the United States. The park was named in honor of Spanish navigator and explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa. In 1977, the park itself and the historic buildings that lined it for the 1915-1916 Panama-California Exposition and the 1935-1936 California Pacific International Exposition were declared a National Landmark District.

Balboa Park is considered a major attraction not only for the city, but for the entire region. It features a variety of old and sometimes rare plants, many of which were planted by famed American landscape designer, botanist and gardener Kate Sessions.

El Prado, a long, wide boulevard with a promenade, runs through the center of the park. Most of the buildings that adorn it were built in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. It is on El Prado that most of the park’s museums and cultural centers are located. It is also home to the Reflection Pond and a beautiful fountain.

Even if you just list everything this park has without going into detail, it would make an impressive paragraph. There is a botanical garden, Japanese Friendship Garden, the old 1935 cactus garden, Alcazar Garden, Australian Garden, California National Plant Garden, Casa del Rey-Moro Garden, George Washington Children’s Ethnobotanical Garden, Desert Garden, Florida Canyons National Plant Sanctuary, Inez-Grant-Parker Memorial Rose Garden, Marston House Garden, Palm Canyon Garden, Health Plant Garden, Veterans Memorial Garden, and Zoro’s Garden.

The list of museums in Balboa Park is hardly less impressive than the list of gardens. There is the Aerospace Museum, the Art Museum, the Automobile Museum, the Hall of Champions, the Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Photography, the Timken Art Museum, the Veterans Museum, the George Washington Memorial Marston House, the Museum of Living Artists, the San Diego Museum of Man, the San Diego Railroad Modeling Museum, the Mingei International Museum, the de la Raza Cultural Center, the Reuben Fleet Science Center, and the San Diego History Center.

The park is practically square and is located in the heart of the city. It adjoins Sixth Avenue to the west, Apas Street to the north, 28th Street to the east, and Russ Boulevard to the south. Balboa Park is so large that several freeways run through it: for example, Highway 163 was built through Cabrillo Canyon in 1948 (it goes under the Cabrillo Bridge) – and this stretch of highway is considered one of the finest park roads in the state. The main entrance to the park is just across the Cabrillo Bridge.

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After the war, additional expansions took place in 1873, 1883, 1907, and 1913 (expansions based on the Olmsted Brothers’ recommendation), resulting in the 55-acre park known today. In the 19th century, Patterson Park was characterized by a romantic landscape with curving paths that move through a pastoral setting of trees, fountains, pavilions, a mansion, two lakes, and other examples of park architecture. The Pagoda (1891), now a symbol of East Baltimore, was designed by Charles H. Latrobe and reflects Baltimoreans’ fascination with the Orient as well as William Patterson’s connection to the silk trade in Canton, China.

Many of the other architectural elements in the park were designed by Latrobe and Frederick, including the Casino (at the time, the word meant a building for recreation). Throughout the 20th century, a variety of active and organized athletics gained increased priority, contributing greatly to how visitors experience the park today. The Olmsted brothers developed a reconstruction of the eastern part of the park, adapting it for active recreation, and some forms of their design still exist today.

Today, Patterson Park is frequented by local schools and churches because of its athletic fields, and is home to one of two ice rinks available in the city. Two important architectural features of the park were the boathouse (1864, now gone) and the pagoda (1891). The other architecture in the park reflected a number of styles, including Italianate Villa, Neo-Gothic, Exotic Revival, and Romanesque Revival, which were designed to create an “eclectic” scene of imagery that would free visitors from the stresses of city life.

Patterson remains most important in that it is Baltimore’s most heavily used large park and remains an outstanding example of 19th century park design. The site is surrounded by large blocks of row houses that rely solely on this park for open space.

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The owner of the land on which the park is located was William Blackston. He came to America in the early 17th century and became known as the first settler of Boston and Rhode Island. The site was then purchased by residents of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, organizing a cow pasture here. In the 1770s, the area was used as a military camp for the British Army, and it received park status around 1830. Many historical events have taken place here since the beginning of the 20th century, and now there are regular events, gatherings and political activities.

What to see in Boston Common

• Boston Massacre Monument. It was erected in 1888 and commemorates the climax of the confrontation between the citizens of Boston and British troops that launched the War of Independence.
• Memorial to Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. He commanded the first black regiment during the American Civil War.
• Soldiers and Sailors Monument. The triumphal column was erected in 1877 to honor those who died in the Civil War.
• Brewer Fountain. It was cast in bronze in 1868 and designed by French sculptors Maturen Moreau and Michel Lienard.
• Central Burying Ground Cemetery. It was founded in 1756. Here are buried such famous figures as a member of the “Boston Tea Party” Samuel Sprague and his son, poet Charles Sprague, painter Gilbert Stuart, and composer William Billings.
• Parkman’s Variety Gazebo. Was built in 1912 in honor of a prominent benefactor and is designed for orchestra performances.
• The Great Elm. This tree had been growing in the park since 1646. It was about 23 meters tall and was approximately 250 years old at the time of its death.
• Colonial Theater. It is the oldest continuously operating theater in the city. The first performance was held here in 1900 – Winston Churchill attended the premiere.
• Frog Pond. Known for the fact that at its bottom were found bronze tools made about 8,000 years ago. In the winter, Frog Pond turns into an ice skating rink.

Interesting facts about Boston Common Park

In 1967, the park hosted a concert by American artist and singer Judy Garland. – It was attended by over 100,000 people.
In 1979, Pope John Paul II gave a speech at Boston Common. It was his only visit to Boston. A granite slab was erected to commemorate the event.

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