Fresh Pond: The History Of A Cambridge Landscape Download Free (EPUB, PDF)
Fresh Pond Reservation, at the northwest edge of Cambridge, Massachusetts, has been described as a "landscape loved to death." Certainly it is a landscape that has been changed by its various uses over the years and one to which Cantabridgeans and Bostonians have felt an intense attachment. Henry James returned to it in his sixties, looking for "some echo of the dreams of youth," feeling keenly "the pleasure of memory"; a Harvard student of the 1850s fondly remembered skating parties and the chance of "flirtation with some fair-ankled beauty of breezy Boston"; modern residents argue fiercely over dogs being allowed to run free at the reservation and whether soccer or nature is a more valuable experience for Cambridge schoolchildren.In Fresh Pond, Jill Sinclair tells the story of the pond and its surrounding land through photographs, drawings, maps, plans, and an engaging narrative of the pond's geological, historical, and political ecology. Fresh Pond has been a Native American hunting and fishing ground; the site of an eighteenth-century hotel offering bowling, food and wine, and impromptu performances by Harvard men; a summer retreat for wealthy Bostonians; a training ground for trench warfare; a location for picnics and festivals for workers and sporting activities for all. The parkland features an Olmsted design, albeit an imperfectly realized one. The pond itself -- a natural lake carved out by the retreating Ice Age about 15,000 years ago -- was a center of the nineteenth-century ice industry (disparaged by Thoreau, writing about another pond), and still supplies the city of Cambridge with fresh drinking water. Sinclair's celebration of a local landscape also alerts us to broader issues -- shifts in public attitudes toward nature (is it brutal wilderness or in need of protection?) and water (precious commodity or limitless flow?) -- that resonate as we remake our relationship to the landscape.
Hardcover: 208 pages
Publisher: The MIT Press; 1 edition (February 13, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0262195917
ISBN-13: 978-0262195911
Product Dimensions: 11 x 0.8 x 7.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #920,382 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #115 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Lakes & Ponds #430 in Books > History > Historical Study & Educational Resources > Historical Geography #622 in Books > Arts & Photography > Architecture > Landscape
Sinclair's careful research and well crafted writing make for a superb read. The photos and maps supplement the text in a most useful way. She expertly ties the history of the Pond with social, economic, political, and ideological movements that served as the context for the Pond's history.
As a landscape architect/architect and former resident of Cambridge Ma, I really enjoyed this book. Fresh Pond is well known locally as an important open space feature in the Cambridge landscape, but few know its significant history. This collection of old photographs and stories provides a wonderful historic perspective on this site that sits in the midst of one of the most densely populated cities in the country. Unfortunately, over time the highly trafficked roadways that abut two sides of Fresh Pond allow commuters to buzz past without even paying attention this beautiful resource. This well crafted book provides the reader with an opportunity to stop and take notice.
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