Editing Boston Common (section)

=== Park development ===
{{Multiple image
| image1            = Edward Mitchell Bannister - Boston Street Scene (Boston Common) - Walters 372766.jpg
| caption1          = Boston Street Scene (Boston Common), Edward Mitchell Bannister, a depiction of the street and Boston Common area in 1898–99
| image2            = ExecutionAnnHibbins1.jpg
| caption2          = Execution of Ann Hibbins on Boston Common, on charges of witchcraft, June 19, 1656. Sketch by F.T. Merril, 1886
| total_width       = 300
}}

The Common was used for a variety of purposes until its formal conversion into a public park during the 1830s. These uses gradually became more urban as the city developed, shifting from pastureland to military drilling field, execution grounds, public gathering place, and finally parkland.

The park was originally "out of bounds" for Blacks and Indians, a restriction that was fought by the Black community in Boston until it was lifted on July 4, 1836.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hayden |first=Robert C. |url=http://archive.org/details/africanamericans00hayd_0 |title=African-Americans in Boston: More than 350 Years |publisher=Trustees of the Public Library of the City of Boston |year=1991 |isbn=0-89073-083-0 |edition=2nd |location=Boston, Massachusetts |pages=34}}</ref>

The [[Charles Street (Boston)|Charles Street]] side of Boston Common and the adjacent portions of the [[Public Garden (Boston)|Public Garden]] were initially used as an unofficial dumping ground due to being in the lowest-lying portions of the two parks. This resulted in the portions of the two parks being "a moist stew that reeked and that was a mess to walk over" and driving visitors away from these areas, but the cost of repair prevented the work from being undertaken. This finally changed in the summer of 1895, when the required quantity of soil was made available as a result of the excavation of the [[Tremont Street subway]] which was used to regrade the Charles Street sides of Boston Common and the Public Garden.<ref>{{cite book|last=Most|first=Doug|date=2014|title=The Race Underground: Boston, New York, and the Incredible Rivalry that Built America's First Subway|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780312591328|url-access=registration|publisher=St. Martin's Press|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780312591328/page/233 233–234]|isbn=978-1-250-06135-5}}</ref>