Public Garden

The Public Garden features a pond shaped like an irregular oval, spanned by a white suspension bridge that draws the eye toward the center of the park. Before this land became a manicured garden in eighteen thirty-seven, it was a salt marsh used as a dumping ground for the city's refuse. Gideon French, a local florist, saw past the trash to plant tulips and rare trees here. He died before he could see his vision take hold, leaving others to finish the work.