Category: National Parks Service

The Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site celebrates the life and works of the great American landscape architect. Olmsted is best known for his work on Central Park in New York City and the Emerald Necklace in Boston. For being the home of a landscape architect the grounds are unimpressive. Instead of heavy landscaping a more natural look is prevalent.

The house is available for tours where you can review the landscapes designed by Olmsted and learn about the methodology used in the design office.

The Longfellow House – Washington Headquarters National Historic Site is just a short walk from the famous Harvard Square part of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The house was built in 1759 and was used by George Washington as his headquarters from 1775-1776. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow the American poet and abolitionist lived here for 50 years and his relatives were the last residents of the house before it was given over to a trust and then transferred to the National Park Service.

The visitor is in the back of the house in a separate building and this is where you can arrange for a tour, get your passport to the National Parks stamped and have your little one participate in the junior ranger program.

The house tour is nice and you as always get some great history from the rangers but the best part of this site are the beautifully landscaped grounds. I would suggest you stroll down to Harvard Square grab some takeout sit down on the grass and enjoy gardens. As an added treat you can pick up some authentic 1800 era children’s games to play with out on the lawn.

The John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site preserves the birthplace and childhood home of the 35th president of the United States. The site is still located in a heavily residential neighborhood with parking very limited. There are two spots in front of the house reserved for visitors to the site, if those are full you will have to park in town and walk a good distance to get to the site. Once on site make your way to the back of the building and down in what was the basement there is a small visitor center and bookstore. This is where you will get your passport to the National Parks book stamped and there is a short orientation film. It is also here where you arrange for a ranger led tour of the house.
Rose Kennedy after the death of her son personally oversaw the refurnishing of the house to match the time when young John would have been growing up.

An interesting tour covering many aspects of Kennedy’s early life including his favorite books that provide great context to his later years. It will not take you long to tour this site, I would suggest you get there early and spend the rest of the day at the nearby JFK Library and Museum in Boston.