Emerald Necklace050

In the late 1800s, Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr created the six parks now known as the Emerald Necklace. The Back Bay Fens, Riverway, Olmsted Park, Jamaica Park, Arnold Arboretum, and Franklin Park stretch five miles from the Charles River to Dorchester and make up over 1,000 acres of parkland.

The Necklace comprises half of the City of Boston's park acreage, parkland in the Town of Brookline, and parkways and park edges under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The Emerald Necklace, the only remaining intact linear park designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Green and open spaces, rivers and ponds, and a wealth and diversity of trees, shrubs, flowers, wildlife habitat, riparian life, bridges and other structures make up this urban haven.