Park Plaza, Boston, MA
Posted by: 
NorStar
N 42° 21.121 W 071° 04.045
19T E 329724 N 4690931
Park Plaza, though known mainly by the name of a high class hotel, is a diminutive park with a monument of Lincoln that has been the site of a lot of change in Boston.
Waymark Code: WM2P8X
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 11/30/2007
Views: 54
There is the Park Plaza Hotel, which is so well known for its quality service. But if you look for Park Plaza on the map, you literally might miss it. Two islands of green - one with trees and another with a statue, a historical kiosk, and street signs mark the location of this diminutive plaza.
Park Plaza is located at the junction of Charles Street South, Providence Ave. and Columbus Ave, and is a very short walk from both Boston Common and Boston Public Garden.
The largest object is on a grassy area, less than a quarter acre in size. It is a large bronze statue, entitled "Emancipation," that is of Lincoln and an African-American who had been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation, and later the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. This statue was erected in Park Square (Park Plaza) September of 1879.
The kiosk is on another part of the plaza, closer to the trees. It has a timeline that shows the change in the land and land use around that location. The location was first the edge of the Shawmut penninsula which was the original land occupied by the town of Boston. Later the marshes of the Back Bay were filled in. There were 'ropewalks' where lengths of rope were made. Later, railroad tracks were built here and the city gradually built around it, until it became part of the center of the city, today.
Sources:
Juneteenth and the Emancipation Proclamation: (
visit link)
The Month of December in Massachusetts History:
(
visit link)