Share your #NecklaceLights moment with us on social media!
Visit the lights with directions for both MBTA transit and parking here!
Love the lights? Your support of our parks matters today more than ever. Please consider a gift to the Emerald Necklace Conservancy during this critical time to ensure the health, vibrancy and safety of these valuable green spaces for all. Make a gift to our Emerald Fund today.
Charlesgate Park Trees
At the northeastern end of the Emerald Necklace lies Charlesgate Park, a connecting point between Olmsted’s parks, the Charles River Esplanade and the Commonwealth Avenue Mall. This year, the grove of Japanese zelkova trees at the intersection of Commonwealth Ave. and Charlesgate East is lit emerald green to raise awareness of the area’s ongoing revitalization project. After decades of neglect, this project will increase accessibility and bring more open green space to this critical link in Boston’s parks network. (Photo: Randall Albright)
Jamaica Pond Boathouse Trees
Built between 1910 and 1912 on Jamaica Pond’s eastern shore, the Boathouse and Bandstand have been a natural meeting point for Jamaica Plain residents since their construction. Built with Tudor styling, the structures were immediately popular — the bandstand’s first concert drew 6,000 people — and remain so today. Pop inside the boathouse, open May through October, for rowboat rentals, sailing lessons, information and restrooms!
Shattuck Visitor Center Trees
Located in the Back Bay Fens, the Shattuck Visitor Center houses Conservancy offices and is both an educational resource about the parks and a gathering place for the community. The 1882 building, designed by architect H.H. Richardson, is itself part of the Emerald Necklace’s history, having originally served as one of a pair of pump-stations that regulated the flow of the Stony Brook into the Muddy River. Prior to its rebirth as the Shattuck Visitor Center, the building was known as the Stony Brook Gatehouse, and is both a Boston Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Franklin Park, Walnut Ave Trees
Named for Benjamin Franklin, Franklin Park is the largest park in both the Emerald Necklace and the City of Boston at 527 acres. Frederick Law Olmsted designed it to be the city’s “country park,” offering rural scenery, spectacular rock outcroppings, a woodland preserve, expansive pastoral vistas and areas for active recreation and sports, including fifteen miles of pedestrian and bridle paths. Lying at the junction of several neighborhoods, Franklin Park enjoys a diverse array of park users and activities.
