“Autumn, Magazine Beach, Cambridge” by Nicholas Read
During August local artists will share moments in time at Magazine Beach—the second largest park in Cambridge—at the Central Square Library. “Nature and History in Our Midst” includes artwork by Gary Blau, Jeff Gardner, Nicholas Read, Peter Valentine and Jason Peter Williams.
In 1889, inspired by the creation of the new water “park on the Boston side of the river,” D. A. Buckley petitioned for the City of Cambridge to purchase the flats between Brookline Bridge (now BU bridge) and Pleasant Streets, including Captain’s Island, to create a park and playground for the young (Cambridge Chronicle6 April 1889). In the following years the City bought the land and hired the Olmsted Brothers to convert the 1818 powder magazine there into a bathhouse for men and boys. In the early 1900s Magazine Beach was a favorite swimming spot along the Charles, refreshing as many as 60,000 bathers each summer.
“Old Magazine” by Jeff Gardner
- “Evening Clouds” by Jason Peter Williams
“Under the Canopy” by Gary Blau
- “The Cambridge Geese” cards by Peter Valentine
Magazine Beach 
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