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Lynch Park
Artwork and Commentary Sean Curtis
Lynch Park is one of the many great landmarks of Beverly and
will hopefully continue to be a great source of pride for the
people of the Garden City. The Lynch Park Advisory Committee
has set many goals for the future, the primary one being to
beautify the park itself and help it better serve the people
of Beverly. Also the Committee wants to try to update the park
while still retaining its historical character and charm. The
committee is concentrating on several key issues regarding the
park such as the ornamentation of the park itself, the buildings
and infrastructure of the park, and access to the park. In order
to reach all of these goals the committee will need money, so
they ar also focusing on fundraising and other ways to increase
their budget. Hopefully with all this hard work and diligence
Lynch Park will be around for a very long time and be able to
provide future generations with a source of pride and enjoyment.
Lynch Park has been an essential element in history as far back
as the late 1700s. It has had a profound effect on both
a local and national scale. During the Revolutionary war days
Lynch Park was known as Woodberrys point and was a key
strategic post for defending Beverly Harbor. This was especially
critical after June 1774 when the British closed down Boston
Harbor. Then some years later Woodberrys point was taken
control of by the Evans family and it soon became one of the
finest estates on the North Shore. During the summers of 1909
and 1910 President Taft leased out the Stetson cottage that
was where the Rose Garden is now. Lynch park got its name from
a man named David S. Lynch who wanted the people of its native
Beverly to have a place to go and enjoy the fresh air and beauty
of the outdoors. So when Lynch died he left 400,000 dollars
to the Lynch Park Board of trustees in order to buy and maintain
a public park. It was at this time that the Beverly Hospital
wanted to sell the park, which they had possession of at the
time so the city of Beverly bought the park and named it after
Lynch.
Lynch park now serves a different purpose than it did back in
the days of the Revolutionary war and the Taft administration
and therefore its role in the community is one that has changed
considerably. Nowadays Lynch Park is but one of many exquisite
parks that the city of Beverly has to offer to the public. Because
Lynch Park is so infamous through Beverly it is only natural
that word of this wonderful park has gotten around to people
outside the community and has spread to cities like Danvers,
Hamilton-Wenham, and other sites of the North Shore thus uniting
us as a county. Lynch Park also is the site of many peoples
rights of passage such as weddings, prom pictures and social
gatherings. Although Lynch Parks purpose and role in the
community has changed it has forever retained its beauty and
majesty and hopefully it will be with us for a long time.
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