{"nrhp_refnum":"85003298","name":"Linden Square","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Linden Pl.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Brookline","county":"Norfolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.33519510100007,"lon":-71.11685297699995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-10-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development"],"significance_levels":["national","state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small triangular public park of less than one acre at Linden Place in Brookline Village, Massachusetts, laid out in 1844 as part of Thomas Aspinwall Davis's planned residential subdivision to a plan by Alex. Wadsworth.","why_significant":"The park is one of the open spaces of an 1843 planned residential development and one of the earliest subdivisions in Brookline. It was an integral part of Davis's plan and reflects early Victorian suburban planning advocated by Downing. It meets Criteria A, B and C.","narrative":"Linden Square is a small, flat, triangular park in Brookline Village, covering less than an acre. It was set aside in 1843-44 when Thomas Aspinwall Davis, later Mayor of Boston, subdivided part of the former Holden Farm orchard into house lots and sold them at auction. Deed restrictions required that open spaces stay free of building for light, air and prospect, and limited the lots to dwelling houses. Two crossing paths form an X pattern among grass and trees, with one bench and a chain-link fence replacing the original three-foot fence and hedges. The lot stayed tied to Davis's house until 1895, when the Stone family gave it to the Town of Brookline as a public ornamental open space. It reflects an early planned Victorian suburb in a denser part of town. Because later infill altered the wider development, its components were nominated individually, and the square was listed under Criteria A, B and C.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Alex. Wadsworth (A. Wadsworth, who drew the 1843 plan)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Condition described as good; owned by the Town of Brookline and open as a public park, enclosed by a chain-link fence.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:57.659708-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/10/7925/63792510/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/85003298.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85003298/7b37522084-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85003298/7b37522084-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BrooklineMA_LindenSquare.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Magicpiano</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BrooklineMA_LindenSquare.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792510","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linden_Square","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6552353"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/norfolk-county/linden-square-85003298/"}