Tucked into a Cambridgeport block off Magazine Street sits Dana Park, part of the city’s landscape since the mid-1800s. How did the park come to be, and what might happen if it were to be taken from the Cambridge public and placed into private hands? These are some of the questions posed in the game Save Dana Park. A collaboration between History Cambridge and Get Up Get Out, which builds immersive experiences powered by artificial intelligence, the game is designed to bring players into the story of Dana Park past and present.
In this puzzle game, players on a mission text with an imaginary character to uncover clues hidden throughout the real park. The mission is to stop a phony deed scam before the villain takes the park away from the public. History Cambridge and Get Up Get Out launch the game May 30 at Dana Park. All are welcome to participate in this free Sunday event; designed to be best for ages 10 and up (or younger, with an older friend), the game can be played individually or in teams.
How did Dana Park come to be a fixture in the Cambridge landscape? When Edmund Trowbridge Dana died in 1859, he left a number of provisions in his will to support the places and organizations he had valued in life. The Cambridge Chronicle, reporting on Dana’s will, noted that he bequeathed $5,000 to the Boston Athenaeum and $15,000 to the city of Cambridge for a new public library. The Chronicle stated that “this is not the first instance of Mr. Dana’s liberality. He gave to the city the square or public common on Magazine Street, and to the Cambridge Aldermen the land on which our City Hall stands.”
Dana had spent his life in Cambridge; as the son of Francis Dana, chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court, the younger Dana grew up surrounded by some of the city’s foremost players in the realms of education, religion, art and politics. Francis Dana was one of the largest investors in the development of the Cambridgeport neighborhood, and when his land holdings were divided among his children after his death, Edmund Dana inherited a large tract in this area. Upon his own death, Edmund included Cambridge in his will by the land grants and cash gifts he left to the city.
But Dana’s generosity came with stipulations. The parcel of land that would become Dana Park was given with the understanding that it would always remain a public, treelined park. In the nearly 170 years since the creation of the park, the understanding of this mandate – and how it has been carried out – has shifted in ways that reflect changing ideas about open space, health and recreation and community involvement in public decisions.
By 1887, three decades after Dana’s death, the city still had not improved the park in the way that many felt Dana would have wanted, as reported in the Cambridge Press: “The generous and enterprising citizen who donated the land had every reason to believe, at the time, that the ‘city fathers’ would properly enclose it, lay out spacious walks, sod it and keep it in a respectable condition at least. But to-day it is used as a mere play-ground, subjected to the roughest of usage and is without a single redeeming feature as a public park.” The editor added that “there is plenty of room for the scholars of the Willard school to assemble or play in the yard attached to the schoolhouse without making Dana Park a regular romping ground, besides being used for baseball or other outdoor games.”
It is not clear what action, if any, the city took to improve the park, but similar concerns about its condition reappeared in 1932, when neighborhood residents went before the park board to argue that “although the park was not deeded for playground purposes, the children have been using it for baseball and football games in recent years with the result that the grass is all worn off and the noise disturbs the neighbors.”
In 1969, the city finalized plans for improving the park, which it had created in consultation with Cambridgeport residents, and which were financed by a grant from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Cambridge Chronicle reported that “the priorities set by residents during the meetings include maintenance, lighting, planting, benches, tables, water fountains, and litterbaskets, all of which have been incorporated into the plan. It became evident that the design for the park needed to accommodate three different user groups: Teenagers, the elderly, and young mothers with small children. The water sprinkler will provide a focal area which can be shared by all three groups. Teens, who seem to be the heaviest users, requested night lighting for the basketball courts, and a shaded sitting area. For the small children, a sunken sand area will provide space for play equipment. The elderly can sit in shady areas around the edge of the park, and use the bocci courts.”
When another renovation was being planned in 1985, the Cambridge Arts Council announced a competition for public art pieces to be installed at the park. Somerville artist David Phillips created the winning design, which the Chronicle described as “a fountain sculpture which will combine three natural elements – water, stone and trees. The artwork will sit in the center of a spray pool, measuring 16 feet in diameter, located in the playground area proposed for the park. The fountain will be constructed with bronze tree limbs which will support a large ‘living’ stone on which moss and lichen make their home. A low-volume water spray will flow out of the stone into the spray pool. Phillips describes the fountain as a ‘celebration of life,’ and like other pieces created by him, it reflects the cycles of nature.” Phillips’s piece was joined in 2007 by John Powell’s “Dana Park Quotes,” a series of aluminum discs, mounted on the light poles around the park’s central lawn, that feature quotations from a number of writers associated with the Cambridgeport neighborhood.
Information about Save Dana Park can be found at the History Cambridge website. You can also visit our Cambridgeport History Hub to learn more about the history of this neighborhood.
History Cambridge started in 1905 as the Cambridge Historical Society. Today we have a new name and a new mission. We engage with our city to explore how the past influences the present to shape a better future. We recognize that every person in our city knows something about Cambridge’s history, and their knowledge matters. We listen to our community and we live by the ideal that history belongs to everyone. Throughout 2026, we are focusing on the history of West Cambridge. Make history with us at historycambridge.org.
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