Island Grove Park
Island Grove Park National Register District | |
 Entrance to Island Grove Park | |
   | |
| Location | Abington, Massachusetts |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 42°6′46″N 70°51′40″W / 42.11278°N 70.86111°W |
| Area | 53 acres (21 ha) |
| Architect | Olmsted Brothers; Pratt, Bela |
| Architectural style | Beaux Arts, Bungalow/Craftsman |
| NRHP reference No. | 02000127 [1] |
| Added to NRHP | March 6, 2002 |
Island Grove Park is a municipal park of the town of Abington, Massachusetts, United States. It consists of a 17-acre (6.9 ha) parcel of land whose principal feature is a peninsula jutting into Island Grove Pond, a 35-acre (14 ha) body of water which was created by impounding the Shumatuscacant River in c. 1700. The area has a significant history, first as land inhabited by Native Americans, then as an industrial site, a cemetery (northwest corner), an amusement park, as well as a site of social reform activism[2] before it became the wooded park it is now.[3] The park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002 as the Island Grove Park National Register District.[1]
Abolitionist History
In the mid-ninetheenth century, Island Grove was a center of abolitionist organizing and activism.[4] The first open air anti-slavery picnic (or rally) happened on August 1, 1846 and was led by William Lloyd Garrison.[5] The opening of the Old Colony Line to Plymouth in November 1845 in what is now North Abington enabled supporters to attend picnics at Island Grove. "Frequently, though not always, the railroads ran special trains at excursion rates, often as low as fifty cents for the round trip adults and twenty-five cents for children, from Boston or Worcester to Framingham and from Boston or Plymouth to Abington."[6]
The Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society and other anti-slavery groups organized these picnics on August1st in honor of Emancipation Day. Picnics were also held on the Fourth of July, which Garrison denounced "as a hypocritical celebration of universal liberty that did not, and never had existed."[7]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
- ^ NRHP Nomination for Island Grove Park National Register District. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved August 17, 2024
- ^ "NRHP nomination for Island Grove Park National Register District". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
- ^ Friends of Island Grove. Island Grove Park. Friends of Island Grove. https://www.friendsofislandgrove.com/. Retrieved August 17, 2024.
- ^ Buckley Jr., John R., Shea, Joseph D., & Buckly, John R. Island Grove Park: Site of Pre-Civil War Abolitionist Meetings Town of Abington Recreation Area. Plymouth Deeds. https://www.plymouthdeeds.org/sites/g/files/vyhlif4881/f/file/file/notable-land-records-abington-island-grove-park.pdf Retrieved August 17, 2024.
- ^ Studley, Marian H. (1943) An "August First" in 1844. In The New England Quarterly (Vol. 16 No.4 pp 567-577) JSOR.
- ^ NRHP Nomination for Island Grove Park National Register District. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved August 17, 2024
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