Back Bay Fens

Established in 1879, the park took shape as an ecological fix: Frederick Law Olmsted laid it out to solve a noxious open sewer problem by emulating tidal marsh ecology. After the 1910 damming of the Charles River turned the basin fresh, landscape architect Arthur Shurtleff redesigned sections across the 1920s and 1930s, notably framing views of the Museum of Fine Arts. Today, as part of the Emerald Necklace, the grounds balance multiple war memorials and busy ball fields with quiet pockets noted for rich bird species.