Overview:
This property, along with Cypress Street Playground, was the Town's first land purchase for parks and recreation. This park is comprised of a large athletic field along Brookline Avenue. The park is relatively flat except for the slope below Aspinwall Avenue and is located partially within the 100-year floodplain of the Muddy River. There is a fenced tot lot near the Lynch Center and an open lawn with a play area.
Park History:
The Town bought the Brookline Avenue land from Thomas Aspinwall in 1871. This was one of the first municipal purchases of land for playground purposes in the country. The property was not used very much during the 1870s. In 1880 it was deemed "altogether unfit for the purposes bought." By 1896, the users petitioned the Park Commissioners to pay for gymnastic apparatus. An open-air gym was established in 1899. The Town bought another 10,351 square feet in 1915.
Deed/Title Restrictions
The Town purchased 166,899 square feet of the property "to be by them used, improved, & maintained as and for a public square, park, or common" for $33,379.80 from Thomas Aspinwall in 1871. Another 4,832 square feet of the property with no restrictions was bought from Trustees of the Aspinwall Land Company in 1887 for $1,691.20 to be used for Winthrop School, the present Recreation Building next to the park. Another 10,351 square feet of land with no restrictions was purchased from Holtzer-Cabot Electric Company in 1915. Part of this land became the Water Department Pipe Yard and another part was added to the Brookline Ave. Playground. The current park boundary was established in 1974.
