Amenities

• Size: 0.28 acres
• Protection: Article 97, NR, SR
• Precinct: 4
• Inventory Date: October 26, 2004, revised February 1, 2010
• Vicinity: In a residential neighborhood
  

About the Park

The park reflects planned suburban subdivisions as advocated by Victorian landscape designer A.J. Downing. Though the perimeter of the park is surrounded by busy local traffic, the ornamental fence creates an inviting feel while protecting park visitors, especially children. The vegetation is simple, but works well. The only equipment is a sandbox. The steel picket fencing, period lights, benches, tables, and new landscaping enhance the park.

Park History

Linden Park and Linden Square date from 1844 and are listed on the National and State Registers of Historic Places. They were part of a residential development laid out by Thomas Aspinwall Davis and designed by Alexander Wadsworth. Each owner held a right in common to Linden Park and the Court (now Pierce Street) and Avenue (Linden Street). They were "to be forever kept open for the use and proprietors of Linden Place..." Each lot was sold with the condition that "no building shall be erected upon said tracts within 30 feet of Harvard Street or of the Court or Avenues laid down on said plan...the only buildings to be erected upon said land or placed thereon, shall be dwelling houses and their appearances exclusive of all shop yards or conveniences for manufacturing or mechanical purposes." Of the 3 planned open spaces, only Linden Park and Linden Square remain. The land to the north and west, now covered with houses, was then a beautiful woods, with a brook running through it. In 1899, the proprietors of Linden Place released the title and presented the land to the town. Renovation in 1991 with Community Development Block Grant funds increased user enjoyment. Thanks largely to donor funding, new shrubs, trees, turf, and irrigation were installed in the fall of 2008, with the goal of providing seasonal color and interest with native, durable plantings.

Deed / Title / Restrictions

The town acquired the property from Stone, Fay, et al-proprietors of Linden Place in 1900 with the stipulation that it "shall remain as a public open space or park." It is listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places.