Editing Boston Common (section)

==Notable features==
[[File:Boston Common in the fall 04.jpg|thumb|Boston Common in the fall of 2016]]
The Boston Common Frog Pond sits at the heart of the Common and is managed by the [[Skating Club of Boston]] in partnership with the City of Boston.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scboston.org/locations/frog-pond/|title=The Boston Common Frog Pond |website=The Skating Club of Boston |language=en-US|access-date=November 3, 2017}}</ref> Frog Pond is home to a winter ice skating rink and learn-to-skate school, a reflecting pool in the spring and fall, and a summer spray pool and children's carousel.

The softball fields lie in the southwest corner of the Common. A grassy area forms the western part of the park and is most commonly used for the park's largest events. A parking garage lies under this part of the Common. A [[Pope John Paul II Memorial (Boston)|granite slab there]] commemorates [[Pope John Paul II]]'s October 1, 1979 visit to Boston.  The Pope said [[Mass (Catholic Church)|mass]] that day to an estimated 400,000 people.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=172133|title=Boston marks 35 years since Pope St. John Paul II's visit|website=The Boston Pilot |date= 3 October 2014 }}</ref>

In 1913 and 1986, prehistoric sites were discovered on the Common indicating American Indian presence long before it was colonized.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bu.edu/research/spotlight/magazine/06/students/bagley.html |work=Research at Boston University |access-date= 2013-08-21 |title=Joseph Bagley: Fishing in the Frog Pond |date=2006 |first1=Trina |last1=Arpin }}</ref>

Since 1971, the Province of [[Nova Scotia]] has donated the [[Boston Christmas Tree|annual Christmas Tree]] to the City of Boston as an enduring thank-you for the relief efforts of the Boston [[Red Cross]] and the Massachusetts Public Safety Committee following the [[Halifax Explosion]] of 1917.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.boston.gov/news/boston-common-tree-arrives-mayor-will-virtually-light-tree-december-3|title=Boston Common tree arrives; Mayor will virtually light tree on December 3|date=November 19, 2020|website=Boston.gov}}</ref>

Both the Common and Public Garden have been developed for recreational and aesthetic purposes: while the Common is primarily unstructured open space that facilitate social and political gatherings, the Public Garden providing a more manicured landscape for promenading.

[[File:Boston Common at sunset.jpg|thumb|View of Boston Common and Park Street church at sunset]]

===Structures===
* The [[Boston Common Tablet]] is installed near the corner of Park Street and Tremont Street.
* ''[[Declaration of Independence Tablet]]''
* Plaque to the [[Great Elm (Boston)|Great Elm tree]] which had been adorned with lanterns to represent liberty, used as a point of fortification, and used for hangings.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.celebrateboston.com/sites/boston-common-great-elm.htm|title=Boston Common Great Elm|work=celebrateboston.com}}</ref> It was destroyed in a storm in 1876.
* The [[Robert Gould Shaw Memorial]] to [[Robert Gould Shaw]] and the Black [[54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry]] stands at Beacon and Park Streets, the northeast corner of the Common, opposite the State House.
* The [[Soldiers and Sailors Monument (Boston)|Soldiers and Sailors Monument]] is a victory column on Flag Staff Hill in the Common, commemorating [[Civil War (United States)|Civil War]] dead.
* The ''[[Boston Massacre Monument]]'' was dedicated November 14, 1888.
* The [[Oneida Football Club Monument]] memorializes the Common as the site of the first organized football games in the United States, played by the [[Oneida Football Club]] in 1862.<ref>Winthrop Saltonstall Scudder, ''An historical sketch of the Oneida football club of Boston, 1862-1865'' (Boston, 1926)</ref>
* [[Brewer Fountain]] stands near the corner of Park and Tremont Streets by [[Park Street station (MBTA)|Park Street Station]].
* [[Boylston station|Boylston]] and Park Street stations were the first two subway stations in the United States; they lie underneath the southern and eastern corners of the park, respectively. Both stations have been in near-continuous operation since the opening of the first portion of the [[Tremont Street subway]] (now part of the [[Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority|MBTA]]'s [[Green Line (MBTA)|Green Line]]) on September 1, 1897.
* [[Parkman Bandstand]] is in the eastern part of the park, used in musical and theatrical productions.
* [[Parkman Plaza]] features the statues ''Industry'', ''Learning'', and ''Religion''.

<gallery widths="150">
File:Beacon St. Mall, Boston Common, by E. L. Allen.png|Beacon St. Mall, 19th century (photo by [[Edward L. Allen|E.L. Allen]])
File:Old elm tree, Boston Common, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views 3.jpg|Old Elm tree, 19th century
File:GreatElmSiteBoston.JPG|Plaque to the Great Elm tree
File:Robert Gould Shaw Memorial (36053).jpg|''[[Robert Gould Shaw Memorial]]''
File:Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Boston Common (2007).jpg|[[Soldiers and Sailors Monument (Boston)|Soldiers and Sailors Monument]]
File:Boston Massacre Memorial - IMG 9560.JPG|[[Boston Massacre]] Memorial
File:Frog Pond at Boston Common.jpg|The Frog Pond
File:Parkman Bandstand.JPG|[[Parkman Bandstand]]
File:USA-Boston Common.jpg|[[Massachusetts State House|Massachusetts State House/Massachusetts Statehouse ("New" State House)]]
File:USA-Boston Common0.jpg|[[Boylston station]]
File:Boston Common (2014) IMG 2995.JPG|Boston Common
File:Aerial View Parkman Bandstand at Boston Common 2.jpg|Aerial view of [[Parkman Bandstand]]
</gallery>

===Neighboring structures===
[[File:Casa l'Estáu dende'l Boston Common.jpg|thumb|[[Massachusetts State House]] overlooks part of the Common]]
* The [[Massachusetts State House]] stands across Beacon Street from the northern edge of the Common.
* The [[Boston Public Garden]], a more formal landscaped park, lies to the west of the Common across Charles Street (and was originally considered an extension of the Common).
* The [[Masonic]] [[Grand Lodge of Massachusetts]] headquarters sits across from the southern corner of the Common at the intersection of Boylston and Tremont Streets.
* Across from the southern corner of the Common, along Boylston and Tremont Streets, lies the campus of [[Emerson College]].
* Across from the Common, to the southeast, [[Suffolk University]] has a [[dormitory]] on Tremont Street.