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All the United States Massachusetts Brookline Cypress Street Playground

Cypress Street Playground

The first public playground in America

Brookline, Massachusetts

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claude chappe
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The play structure at the oldest public playground in America.   Visiting Brookline Playgrounds
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The play structure at the oldest public playground in America.   Visiting Brookline Playgrounds
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About

The unassuming playground located in front of Brookline High School, just off Route 9, is claimed--along with another park on nearby Brookline Avenue--to be the first public playground in America.

In 1871, the town of Brookline paid $45,878.50 to one William B. Craft to buy the land as public space for play--the first time any such transaction had ever taken place in the United States. The town planted 30 maple trees, and in 1880, the Brookline Athletic Club built a track around the perimeter of the field. Today the Cypress Street Park features a pair of baseball diamonds, a basketball court, modern play equipment, and sprinklers that are popular with area children in the summer months.

Few in the area are aware of the site's historic significance.

Know Before You Go

The playground is located next to the Brookline Hills T stop.

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Added By

claude chappe

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Sources
  • http://www.brooklinegreenspace.org/pdf/openleadership.pdf
  • http://www.brooklinema.gov/Facilities/Facility/Details/Cypress-Street-Playground-23
Cypress Street Playground
224-298 Davis Ave
Brookline, Massachusetts, 02445
United States
42.33233, -71.127398
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Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
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