Franklin Park Zoo, Bear Dens, Seaver Street, Boston, Suffolk County, MA

Significance: Built in 1912, the Bear Dens were among the first structures to be erected in Boston's Franklin Park Zoo, and were used continuously until 1971. The design for the dens was the work of landscape architect Arthur Shurtleff, who also assisted the Olmsted-led design team with the plans for the larger park. The Franklin Park Zoo 's Bear Dens provide a prime example of how animals were housed in zoos of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, prior to the development of more humane, naturalistic animal habitats. The Dens feature a relief with two bears holding up the city seal of Boston from 1912.
Survey number: HABS MA-1316
Building/structure dates: 1911-1912 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1971 Subsequent Work