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 1700’s. It has had a profound effect on both a local and national scale. During the Revolutionary war days Lynch Park was known as Woodberry’s 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 Woodberry’s 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 people’s rights of passage such as weddings, prom pictures and social gatherings. Although Lynch Park’s 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.