With a history going back as far as 1634, the Boston Common is the oldest public park in the United States of America and has been a witness to Boston?s history. It was once owned by the first European settler of Boston, William Blaxton who sold the property to the Puritan founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It was then used as a common cow and cattle pasture during the 1630?s and only lasted for a few years because cattle grazing became popular until it was forbidden in 1830. Alongside, the Common was also used as a camp by the British before the American Revolutionary War and up until 1817, public hangings were performed here.

Notable historical events took place in the Common including a riot staged on May 19, 1713 by about two hundred citizens in reaction to a food shortage in the city that led to the shooting of the lieutenant governor and a gathering of a hundred people in early 1965 to protest the Vietnam War that was followed by another protest on October 15, 1969 with about 100,000 attendees.

Bounded by Tremont, Beacon, Charles, Park and Boylston Streets, the Boston Common features a number of historical monuments such as the Parkman Bandstand built in 1912 in honour of George F. Parkman, who donated $5 million for the maintenance of parks in Boston, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument at Flagstaff Hill and the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial located at the edge of the Common opposite the Massachusetts State House that pay tribute to Civil War troops. Other attractions in the Common include, the Brewer Fountain donated by Gardner Brewer in 1868, a bronze fountain designed with the mythical figures of Neptune, Galatea, Amphitrite and Acis, the Central Burying Ground, the one of the oldest graveyards in Boston, where remains of many British and American casualties of the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775 rest in peace, and the Frog Pond where children can paddle through the pond during summertime and skate on it in the winter. The Common is the start of Boston?s famous Freedom Trail where visitors can tour a 4-kilometre long path that passes sixteen historic landmarks. The Boston Common, along with the Public Garden, Esplanade, the Commonwealth Avenue Mall, the Back Bay Fens, Olmstead Park, Jamaica Park, Arnold Arboretum and Franklin Park, is part of Boston?s Emerald Necklace, a series of parks all connected to each other.