Historic Marker Planned at Site of First "Sycamore" Tree

 

The Trust plans to install an historic marker on Memorial Drive to mark the site of the first "sycamore" tree planted in 1897 and to celebrate the vision of the public parkland along the Charles River.

 

The planning of our commemorative marker coincides with the 200th anniversary of Frederick Law Olmsted’s birth in 1822, which was celebrated nationally as the Olmsted 200. It was Olmsted, the father of American landscape architecture, and his protégé, Cambridge born Charles Eliot, whose vision resulted in the creation and preservation of parkland along the Charles River and the planting of the iconic allée of trees on Memorial Drive.

 

The marker will consist of a bronze tablet on a granite base. It will be installed where the first of the “sycamore” trees was planted on April 22, 1897, on the river side of the parkway approximately across from the John F. Kennedy Fountain.

 

The marker will draw greater attention among thousands of Riverbend Park visitors to the legacy of Olmsted and Eliot and the importance of preserving the trees and protecting our precious riverfront parkland.

 

While a state grant is funding the marker’s design and fabrication, we are asking for your support in funding its installation and a public celebration for its dedication. 

 

Donations may be made online through our website or by check (payable to People for Riverbend Park Trust) and mailed to 21 Gibson St. Cambridge MA 02138. We will contact donors about whether and how they would like to be recognized in our event program. The Trust is a 501(c)(3) organization.