Mystic Valley Parkway Maintained by| Department of Conservation and Recreation Length| 6.0 mi[1] (9.7 km) Location| Mystic River Reservation, Middlesex County, Massachusetts West end| US 3 / Route 2A in Arlington East end| Route 16 / Route 28 in Medford Construction Completion| 1895 Other Designer| Olmsted Brothers Mystic Valley Parkway, Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston MPS U.S. National Register of Historic Places U.S. Historic district Show map of Massachusetts Show map of the United States Location| Arlington, Medford, Somerville, and Winchester, Massachusetts Coordinates| 42°25′47″N 71°7′49″W / 42.42972°N 71.13028°W / 42.42972; -71.13028Coordinates: 42°25′47″N 71°7′49″W / 42.42972°N 71.13028°W / 42.42972; -71.13028 Area| 22 acres (8.9 ha) Built| 1936 Architect| Charles Eliot; Olmsted Brothers MPS| Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston MPS NRHP reference No.| 05001529[2] Added to NRHP| January 18, 2006 Mystic Valley Parkway is a parkway in Arlington, Medford, Somerville, and Winchester, Massachusetts. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and forms part of Route 16. ## Contents * 1 Route description * 2 History * 3 Major intersections * 4 References * 5 External list ## Route description[edit] Mystic Valley Parkway, Arlington, Medford, Somerville, and Winchester The parkway runs roughly north–south from the Middlesex Fells in Winchester, down the Aberjona River valley, and along the east side of the Mystic Lakes into Medford. This section follows the path of the old Middlesex Canal. It then crosses the Mystic River into Arlington (sharing a bridge with Massachusetts Route 60), and curves to follow the river as it runs east–west through Arlington. A short branch also runs along the southern shore of the Lower Mystic Lake from Route 60 where it ends at a junction with U.S. Route 3 and Massachusetts Route 2A. It meets Alewife Brook Parkway (and joins with Massachusetts Route 16) at a rotary near where Alewife Brook empties into the Mystic, and then continues to generally follow the course of the Mystic River downstream, crossing it several times before ending at Revere Beach Parkway where both meet Massachusetts Route 28. ## History[edit] The parkway, with surrounding landscape, forms part of Boston's Metropolitan Park District, established in 1893. The parkway itself was designed in 1894-1895 by the Olmsted Brothers, the noted landscape architects, with Charles Eliot taking a lead role. It was originally created as one section of a web of pleasure roads designed for their aesthetics, as part of a comprehensive plan for green spaces in and around Boston. Lantern slides in the Library of Congress collection, Courtesy of the Frances Loeb Library, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, offer views of the Parkways in published in 1895.[3][4][5][6] It now forms part of the Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston, and on January 18, 2006, was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district. ## Major intersections[edit] The Olmsted plan of the original parkway, 1895. The entire route is in Middlesex County. Location| mi[1]| km| Destinations| Notes | | | | Winchester| 0.0| 0.0| Bacon Street| Arlington| 1.9| 3.1| Route 60 (High Street) to US 3 / Route 2A – Winchester| Access to US 3 / MA 2A via 0.7-mile (1.1 km) west branch of parkway[7] Medford| 2.8| 4.5| Route 16 west (Alewife Brook Parkway)| Route 16 continues south 4.1| 6.6| Route 38 (Main Street) – Medford, Somerville| Interchange 4.2| 6.8| I-93 – Boston, Concord, NH| Interchange; exit 31 on I-93; no direct westbound access 6.0| 9.7| Route 28 (Fellsway) / Route 16 east – Charlestown, Boston, Stoneham, Reading, Everett, Revere| Route 16 continues east as Revere Beach Parkway 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi * Incomplete access * Route transition ## References[edit] 1. ^ a b Google (May 25, 2019). "Mystic Valley Parkway" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved May 25, 2019. 2. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009. 3. ^ "American Memory from the Library of Congress". 4. ^ "American Memory from the Library of Congress". 5. ^ "American Memory from the Library of Congress". 6. ^ "American Memory from the Library of Congress". 7. ^ Google (May 25, 2019). "Mystic Valley Parkway" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved May 25, 2019. * Charles Eliot, "The Boston Metropolitan Reservations", The New England magazine, Volume 21, Issue 1, September 1896. * William B. de las Casas, "The Boston Metropolitan Park System", Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 35, No. 2, Public Recreation Facilities (March, 1910), pp. 64–70. * Charles William Eliot, Charles Eliot: Landscape Architect, Houghton, Mifflin, 1902. ## External list[edit] Media related to Mystic Valley Parkway at Wikimedia Commons * v * t * e U.S. National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Topics| * Contributing property * Keeper of the Register * Historic district * History of the National Register of Historic Places * National Park Service * Property types Lists by county| * Barnstable * Berkshire * Bristol * Dukes * Essex * Franklin * Hampden * Hampshire * Middlesex * Nantucket * Norfolk * Plymouth * Suffolk * Worcester (northern) Lists by city| | Barnstable County| * Barnstable * Harwich | Bristol County| * Fall River * New Bedford * Taunton Essex County| * Andover * Gloucester * Ipswich * Lawrence * Lynn * Methuen * Salem Hampden County| * Springfield Middlesex County| * Arlington * Cambridge * Concord * Framingham * Lexington * Lowell * Marlborough * Medford * Newton * Reading * Sherborn * Somerville * Stoneham * Wakefield * Waltham * Weston * Winchester Norfolk County| * Brookline * Milton * Quincy Suffolk County| * Boston * northern * southern Worcester County| * Southbridge * Uxbridge * Worcester * eastern * northwestern * southwestern Other lists| * Bridges * Cape Cod National Seashore * National Historic Landmarks * Boston * Category * National Register of Historic Places portal * United States portal * v * t * e Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston Coastal reservations| * Belle Isle Marsh * Boston Harbor Islands * Castle Island * Dorchester Shores * Fort Revere * Lynn Shore * Nahant Beach * Nantasket Beach * Quincy Shore * Revere Beach * Rumney Marsh * Webb Memorial * Weymouth Back River River reservations| * Alewife Brook * Charles River * Chestnut Hill * Cutler * Elm Bank * Hemlock Gorge * Mystic River * Neponset River * Pope John Paul II * Squantum Point Park * Upper Charles River Woodland reservations| * Beaver Brook * Blue Hills * Breakheart * Hammond Pond * Middlesex Fells * Quincy Quarries * Southwest Corridor * Stony Brook * Wilson Mountain Heritage state parks| * Lynn * Roxbury Parkways and roads| * Alewife Brook * Arborway * Blue Hills * Blue Hills Reservation * Charles River Reservation * Day Boulevard * Fellsway * Fellsway East * Fellsway West * Fenway * Fresh Pond * Furnace Brook * Hamond Pond * Hull Shore Drive * Jamaicaway * Lynn Fells * Lynnway * Memorial Drive * Morrissey Boulevard * Mystic Valley * Nahant Beach Boulevard * Nantasket Avenue * Park Drive * Quincy Shore Drive * Revere Beach * Riverway * Soldiers Field Road * Stony Brook * Storrow Drive * Truman * VFW * West Roxbury * Winthrop * Winthrop Shore Drive * Department of Conservation and Recreation * Greater Boston * List of Massachusetts State Parks *[No.]: number *[mi]: Miles *[km]: Kilometers *[v]: View this template *[t]: Discuss this template *[e]: Edit this template