In 1929 Arthur Fiedler chose the Esplanade for the site of the Boston Pops' outdoor concerts.The Hatch Memorial Shell was constructed there 10 years later. The rest, as they say, is history.

The esplanade is a grassy, tree-lined park along the Charles River basin. As the site of the July Fourth fireworks and the Boston Pops concert at the Hatch Memorial, it is the place where one of the nation's most historic cities commemorates its most momentous event.

Throughout the spring, summer and fall, numerous free concerts, films and other events take place in the park. No matter what time of year you tour the Esplanade, you're likely to see rowers, skaters, joggers, walkers, duck feeders and picnickers. It is a center for outdoor congregating, frolicking and play. The esplanade is particularly popular with bicyclists, who ride the scenic 17-mile stretch between the Museum of Science and Watertown, down by the banks of the Charles. Summer weekends can be a bit too popular.

There are many ways in which the Esplanade personifies those things that are best about the city of Boston. The cultural amalgam of people, all sharing the same peaceful space along the Charles, symbolically crystallizes what harmonious urban living is all about. -- Carl Salminen (Photo: Kristy Martin)