Blackstone and Franklin Squares are public parks located in the South End neighborhood of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

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Description

The two squares are separated by Washington Street and bounded on the north by Brookline Street, to the east by St George Street, to the south by Newton Street, and to the west by Shawmut Avenue. An iron fence surrounds the perimeter of each square, with entrances at each of the corners. There is also an entrance to Blackstone Square at the intersection of Pembroke Street and Shawmut Avenue and a fifth entrance to Franklin Square along Newton Street. Blackstone Square encompasses and Franklin Square spans . Both are maintained under Land and Water Conservation Fund of the National Park Service The squares operate under Article 97 of the

Massachusetts State Constitution The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the fundamental governing document of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, one of the 50 individual state governments that make up the United States of America. As a member of the Massachuset ...

, which states: Blackstone and Franklin Square can be reached by the MBTA Silver Line routes SL4 and SL5, and

bus routes A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

#8 and #10.

History

Charles Bulfinch Charles Bulfinch (August 8, 1763 – April 15, 1844) was an early American architect, and has been regarded by many as the first American-born professional architect to practice.Baltzell, Edward Digby. ''Puritan Boston & Quaker Philadelphia''. Tran ...

, who created the plan for the South End, originally intended the two squares to be one, calling it Columbia Square. Franklin Square opened in 1849 and Blackstone Square subsequently opened in 1855. The St. James Hotel, now the Franklin Square House Apartments, served as the exterior backdrop of the popular 1980's NBC hospital drama series, ''

St. Elsewhere ''St. Elsewhere'' was an American medical drama television series created by Joshua Brand and John Falsey, that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982, to May 25, 1988. The series stars Ed Flanders, Norman Lloyd, and William Daniels ...

''.https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model.html?id=ec1cc662f9f20b6d2a2ed1fba287086e St. James Hotel/Franklin Square House In 1979, after years of neglect, local resident Brian Davidson began an effort to clean up the squares. He personally picked up trash and after several years the city of Boston began a revitalization project that included new fences, fountains, benches, and trees.

Features

Foliage

A variety of trees are planted in and around the parks. Surrounding the exterior perimeter of the park are

Sugar Maple ''Acer saccharum'', the sugar maple, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada and eastern United States. Sugar maple is best known for being the prim ...

(''Acer saccharum''). Inside the park and lining the walkways are Silver Linden (''Tilia tomentosa''). There is a large

White Oak The genus ''Quercus'' contains about 500 species, some of which are listed here. The genus, as is the case with many large genera, is divided into subgenera and sections. Traditionally, the genus ''Quercus'' was divided into the two subgenera ''C ...

(''Quercus alba'') in Franklin Square as well.

Fountains

There are two identical fountains, one in each square, located centrally at the intersection of the walkways. At the base of each fountain are four stylized fish surrounding an ornate pedestal that holds a large bowl in the shape of a seashell.

References

{{coord, 42.3393, -71.0731, region:US-MA_type:landmark, display=title Squares in Boston South End, Boston