Udall Names Arnold Park Historic Site

The University's Arnold Arboretum, called "America's greatest garden," was named a National Historic Landmark by Interior Secretary Stewart Udall Monday.

Founded in 1872 on the bequest of a New Bedford merchant, John Arnold, the arboretum comprises 265 acres of land in Jamaica Plain, near the Forest Hills MBTA Station. A major center for world plant study, it contains over 6,500 living species of woody trees, shrubs and vines.

Under a special arrangement with the City of Boston, Harvard leased the arboretum lands in 1882 for a term of 999 years at an annual rent of $1. Part of the agreement is that the gardens be open to the public every day of the year from sunrise to sunset. The living collections are supplemented by an herbarium and library for the study of plants under cultivation all over the world.

In 1961 the arboretum was the subject of a lawsuit against the University when Harvard moved a large quantity of plant materials and books to the University Herbarium in Cambridge. Friends of the arboretum charged that this was a violation of the original trust because the University was favoring botanical study over horticultural and arboreal work, as specified in Arnold's will.

Arboretum vs. Herbarium

(An arboretum is a collection of trees and shrubs grown for educational purposes, an herbarium is a collection of dried plants.)

The arboretum was one of four Massachusetts sites honored as National Landmarks. Another was the Asa Gray House, built in 1807 on Garden St. in Cambridge to house Harvard's famous botany professor. It was to Gray, a friend and supporter of Charles Darwin, that Darwin's theory of evolution was first outlined in 1857.

Other landmarks are the Ether Dome at Massachusetts General Hospital, site of the first surgical use of anesthetics, and the Nathaniel Bowditch House in Salem.