Fresh Pond Reservation

The Fresh Pond Reservation – 162 acres surrounding and protecting the 155-acre Fresh Pond Reservoir – is the largest open space in densely populated Cambridge. Assembled by the city’s water department in the late 1800s, the Reservation’s landscape was shaped by an 1897 Olmsted Brothers plan that featured carriage roads and varied views. Over the years, the department was hard pressed to match maintenance to use, and by the 1950s, the Reservation had fallen into deteriorated condition. In 1962, members of the Plant Club and Garden Club (then separate clubs) joined forces to advocate for the restoration of the Reservation.

The clubs began by focusing on Black’s Nook – the most degraded area of the Reservation. A small pond that was once connected to Fresh Pond, Black’s Nook had – given its accessibility from Concord Avenue – become an unsanctioned dumping site. In 1962, the clubs reached out to city officials with a plan for dredging the pond and then replanting the banks with native trees and shrubs.

In the spring of 1963, the Cambridge DPW kicked off the project, hauling away 93 truckloads of debris (appliances, car parts, tires, bedsprings, and more). A city crew then prepared the surrounding area for planting. The clubs contributed 40 trees (white pines, red maples, and a specimen red oak), siting the trees, supervising planting, and then watering over a hot summer. Plantings in the following years included nut tree and beech groves.