Proposed parks and parkways - Vintage map, Norman B. Leventhal Collection

In 1876, a group of concerned Bostonians held a public meeting in Faneuil Hall to address the public health issues facing the city: an ever-rising population, widespread illness, a surging death rate, air pollution, and diminishing public space. The solution, they determined, lay in a public park system. This map shows the Boston Park Commissioners’ early vision of a system of connected parks and parkways winding through the city. Two years later, Boston tasked Frederick Law Olmsted with creating such an urban park system; once completed, his “Emerald Necklace” would be the country’s first integrated system of public parks.
Courtesy of Boston Public Library