Boston Public Garden is established.

It is founded by Horace Gray and other amateur horticulturists after the city grants the group’s petition of September 25, 1837 for use of what was then marshland. Incorporates on February 1, 1839, the group creates what becomes the oldest public botanical garden in the U.S. After Gray loses his fortune in 1847, the garden falls into disrepair and the site is even used by traveling circuses. The city reclaims the property and adopts a new plan for its construction in 1859.*