When Mayor Marty Walsh released results of a sweeping audit his administration conducted of the Boston Redevelopment Authority back in July, one of the most peculiar findings was that all of the BRA’s records were kept on paper. In a world intricately connected by mobile devices and applications, and remote digital servers, known as the cloud, are the universal norm for data sharing and storage, it’s hard to imagine paper was the BRA’s record-keeping system of choice.
The BRA is hardly alone in this and as it turns out, they were joined by the Boston Parks and Recreation Department. On Monday, October 27, the City of Boston announced that records of the Boston Parks Commission, dating as far back as 1875, would finally be digitized in an online archive.
According to the City of Boston, these records were kept in the Parks and Recreation Department’s Roxbury office but now they’re available for everyone to enjoy.
And enjoy, you’re likely to do. Flipping through these digital additions will yield some intriguing results, including old maps of Boston’s extensive park system, minutes detailing the formation of the Emerald Necklace and proposals to create new parks.
Keep in mind, too, Boston’s cityscape was vastly different, as this mapmaker hobbyist can attest, in that the Back Bay was literally a bay in the processes of being filled in and marshlands comprised a substantial chunk of land.
You can check out the documents, maps and other assorted goodies right here. If you’re entertained and impressed, thank the Boston Public Library’s digital services team for doing all the legwork.
“The work is done at two state-of-the-art digitization labs, using high-end digital cameras and flatbed scanners, in the Central Library in Copley Square,” described the City of Boston. “The digitized collections can be found under the “online collections” tab of the BPL home page. The department works to not only increase awareness of and access to collections and materials but also to partner with local communities to help share their stories.”
Now keep in mind this isn’t every single Parks document. They’re all pretty old, however, some run as recently as the 1970s. One might think, though, given Boston’s penchant for historical preservation and next-generation tech savviness, this wouldn’t have taken so long. Either way, we look forward to diving deeper into Boston’s past and hope you do too.
