101. Red Maple: Dig Deeper

A 1,000 year lease: Learn about the agreement between the City of Boston and Harvard University.

In order to create the Arboretum he envisioned, founding director Charles Sprague Sargent needed to work out a unique agreement. He spent four years working with Harvard College and the City of Boston to negotiate a joint financial partnership.

The result was a 1,000-year lease. The Arboretum is a Boston city park, open dawn to dusk, 365 days a year. The city provides security and maintenance of the roadways. The Arboretum, which is part of Harvard University, collects and maintains the trees and organizes the programming and research.

Learn more here.