Ranger Hill
Ranger Hill, a mounted park ranger for four years, met us at the Boat House Gazebo for our community interview. He described how Jamaica Plain used to be a meadow where farmers grew produce to sell two hours by horse or foot in Boston Proper. He shared with us one theorty on how Jamaica Pond got its name from the Native Americans, who called the area "Jamaica Wah."
Jamaica Pond is a fresh water pond with a spring underneath that provides the dangerous undercurrents. The footpath around the pond is 1.5 miles, while altogether there's 128 acres in Jamaica Pond designed by the famous landscape architect F.L. Olmstead. Many people today use the pond to fish rainbow trout, salmon, bass and brown trout.
Purchased from an ice company in 1890 Jamaica Pond has always been a meeting place for the community. From ice-skating in the 1860's to attending the Lantern Parade each year, the residents of JP and the surrounding community celebrate their section of the Emeral Necklace collection of public parks that ring the City of Boston.
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