Jamaica Pond
Encyclopedia
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Kettle (geology)
A kettle is a shallow, sediment-filled body of water formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters.-Overview:...
pond, part of the Emerald Necklace
Emerald Necklace
The Emerald Necklace consists of an chain of parks linked by parkways and waterways in Boston and Brookline, Massachusetts. It gets its name from the way the planned chain appears to hang from the "neck" of the Boston peninsula, although it was never fully constructed.-Overview:The Necklace...
of parks in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
designed by Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted was an American journalist, social critic, public administrator, and landscape designer. He is popularly considered to be the father of American landscape architecture, although many scholars have bestowed that title upon Andrew Jackson Downing...
. The pond and park are in the Jamaica Plain
Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts
Jamaica Plain is a historic neighborhood of in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded by Boston Puritans seeking farm land to the south, it was originally part of the city of Roxbury...
neighborhood of Boston, close to the border of Brookline
Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, which borders on the cities of Boston and Newton. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 58,732.-Etymology:...
. It is the source of the Muddy River
Muddy River, Massachusetts
The Muddy River is a series of brooks and ponds that runs through sections of Boston's Emerald Necklace, including along the south boundary of Brookline, Massachusetts...
, which drains into the lower Charles River
Charles River
The Charles River is an long river that flows in an overall northeasterly direction in eastern Massachusetts, USA. From its source in Hopkinton, the river travels through 22 cities and towns until reaching the Atlantic Ocean at Boston...
.USGS 2005
The pond has an area of about 68 acres (28 ha), and is 53 feet (16 m) deep at its center (MassWildlife map), making it the largest body of fresh water in Boston, and the largest natural freshwater body in the lower Charles River watershed. It is ringed by a walking path, and is an extremely popular destination for Bostonians for walking, fishing, and sailing.
The pond once served as a reservoir for the City of Boston and the Town of West Roxbury, and supplied ice in the winter to Boston and beyond.
According to the USGS, the name Jamaica derives from an Indian name meaning "abundance of beavers".
History
The Jamaica Plain Ice Company employed 350 men in 1874, and harvested as much 5,000 tons of ice a day from Jamaica Pond.The pond was once the site of a popular annual winter skating carnival. In 1929, this carnival was cancelled by Mayor Curley
James Michael Curley
James Michael Curley was an American politician famous for his four terms as mayor of Boston, Massachusetts. He also served twice in the United States House of Representatives and one term as 53rd Governor of Massachusetts.-Early life:Curley's father, Michael Curley, left Oughterard, County...
when cracks appeared on the ice, and 50,000 skaters had to be evacuated. In recent years, ice skating is no longer permitted on the pond.
Overlooking Jamaica Pond until its 2007 demolition was Pinebank Mansion
Pinebank Mansion
Pinebank Mansion was a Queen Anne-style house sited on a hill overlooking Jamaica Pond in Boston, Massachusetts. Built in 1868 by John Hubbard Sturgis, it was the only mansion retained by Frederick Law Olmsted in his plans the Emerald Necklace park system...
, the summer home of Edward Newton Perkins.