Boston Aquarial and Zoological Gardens
Encyclopedia
The Boston Aquarial and Zoological Gardens (October 1860 - June 1862) in Boston
, Massachusetts
, featured a public aquarium
and zoo. It was located in the Financial District on Central Court (off Washington Street
). On display were "hundreds of specimens of the finny tribe there to be seen sporting in their native element, in all their variety of hue and shape" as well as other animals. James Ambrose Cutting
and Henry D. Butler ran the business, derived from an earlier incarnation known as the Boston Aquarial Gardens
.
, Trochartea pendula, was presented. ... By that time, the Aquarial department had grown to include a collection of eels, trout, haddock, shrimp and dogfish. ... Downstairs in the zoological department, an alligator shared a cage with a snapping turtle, a box turtle, and an African ibis. There was also a pair of lions, a leopard, a grizzly bear, black bears, assorted monkeys and parrots, an albino flying squirrel, deer, owls, and foxes. The 'den of serpents' included an anaconda, pythons, a pine snake and a black snake." In 1861, "the Zoological Department [was] under the charge of Uriah Sears who ... trained the bears, the kangaroos, the moose and the baboon to perform wonderful feats in the ring."
By 1869 "the skeleton of the specimen exhibited at the ... Gardens ... [was] in the Museum of Comparative Zoology
... presented by Mr. Cutting."
." "We well remember [the sphynx] when it first arrived at the Gardens -- a dull, obstinate, seemingly unteachable brute. Now, however, he is one of the great cards of the institution. Nothing can be more amusing than his equestrian feats, whether he appears as a volunteer, flag in hand or as a fast young man on an hired horse. Then his other performances in the ring are infinitely grotesque. He wheels a barrow, personifies laziness to the life, feigns insensibility, carries a heavy log, mounts a pole, and travels around the ring on the hand rail."
] he announced that the Gardens would be associated with the American Museum
in New York and that he hoped 'to form such a happy blending of amusement with instruction so as not to depend solely upon the scientific public for support, but to render this establishment attractive and popular with all respectable classes.' James Cutting was then engaged to remain at the Gardens and take charge of the living whale, the seals, and other rare animals."
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, featured a public aquarium
Public aquarium
A public aquarium is the aquatic counterpart of a zoo, housing living aquatic species for viewing. Most public aquariums feature tanks larger than those kept by home aquarists, as well as smaller tanks. Since the first public aquariums were built in the mid-19th century, they have become popular...
and zoo. It was located in the Financial District on Central Court (off Washington Street
Washington Street (Boston)
Washington Street is a street originating in downtown Boston, Massachusetts that extends southwestward to the Massachusetts-Rhode Island state line. The majority of it was built as the Norfolk and Bristol Turnpike in the early nineteenth century...
). On display were "hundreds of specimens of the finny tribe there to be seen sporting in their native element, in all their variety of hue and shape" as well as other animals. James Ambrose Cutting
James Ambrose Cutting
James Ambrose Cutting was an American photographer and inventor, sometimes called the inventor of the Ambrotype photographic process.He grew up in poverty on a farm in Haverhill, NH...
and Henry D. Butler ran the business, derived from an earlier incarnation known as the Boston Aquarial Gardens
Boston Aquarial Gardens
The Boston Aquarial Gardens was a public aquarium in Boston, Massachusetts, established by James Ambrose Cutting and Henry D Butler. The "conservatories [were] filled with rare marine animals imported and collected exclusively for this establishment; .....
.
History
"The gardens were officially opened to the public on October 5th, 1860. The zoological department had added a moose, a leopard, an African python, and several seals. The prices remained fixed at 25 cents for adults and ten cents for children. In February of 1861, a newly discovered species of sea anemoneSea anemone
Sea anemones are a group of water-dwelling, predatory animals of the order Actiniaria; they are named after the anemone, a terrestrial flower. Sea anemones are classified in the phylum Cnidaria, class Anthozoa, subclass Zoantharia. Anthozoa often have large polyps that allow for digestion of larger...
, Trochartea pendula, was presented. ... By that time, the Aquarial department had grown to include a collection of eels, trout, haddock, shrimp and dogfish. ... Downstairs in the zoological department, an alligator shared a cage with a snapping turtle, a box turtle, and an African ibis. There was also a pair of lions, a leopard, a grizzly bear, black bears, assorted monkeys and parrots, an albino flying squirrel, deer, owls, and foxes. The 'den of serpents' included an anaconda, pythons, a pine snake and a black snake." In 1861, "the Zoological Department [was] under the charge of Uriah Sears who ... trained the bears, the kangaroos, the moose and the baboon to perform wonderful feats in the ring."
Whale
The proprietors added a live beluga whale to the collection in 1861."The present whale, now an active swimming resident of our city, was caught in the St. Lawrence RiverSaint Lawrence RiverThe Saint Lawrence is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin...
, Upper Canada, between the Orelle and DuLoup rivers. His capture was secured by weirs, a sort of trap made of wooden stakes, inclosing an area of several miles of water, but so shaped as to concenter to a point where big fish are nabbed. ... Having been secured he was placed in a huge box for transportation. Before this was accomplished however, the whale gave its captors very much trouble by his powerful flappings, jumpings &c. &c., having floundered some Frenchmen several times, much to their peril and inconvenience. The box was lined with sea-weed, and was partially covered at the top with slats. The precious freight was then carried 7 miles over one of the roughest roads in Canada, and from thence by rail 500 miles to Boston, by special trains. ... At each station the monster was well watered, as if he had been a locomotive. The aqueous attentions were quite necessary during the journey of 60 hours. All along the route the distinguished traveller was the object of great curiosity, and the most animated conversation. On being placed in the huge tank at the Aquarial Gardens, the process of which was witnessed by hundreds with the most intense interest, the whale at once swam in the most lively and graceful manner!"
By 1869 "the skeleton of the specimen exhibited at the ... Gardens ... [was] in the Museum of Comparative Zoology
Museum of Comparative Zoology
The Museum of Comparative Zoology, full name "The Louis Agassiz Museum of Comparative Zoology", often abbreviated simply to "MCZ", is a zoology museum located on the grounds of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is one of three museums which collectively comprise the Harvard Museum...
... presented by Mr. Cutting."
Sphinx
Visitors could also see a so-called "sphinxSphinx
A sphinx is a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head or a cat head.The sphinx, in Greek tradition, has the haunches of a lion, the wings of a great bird, and the face of a woman. She is mythicised as treacherous and merciless...
." "We well remember [the sphynx] when it first arrived at the Gardens -- a dull, obstinate, seemingly unteachable brute. Now, however, he is one of the great cards of the institution. Nothing can be more amusing than his equestrian feats, whether he appears as a volunteer, flag in hand or as a fast young man on an hired horse. Then his other performances in the ring are infinitely grotesque. He wheels a barrow, personifies laziness to the life, feigns insensibility, carries a heavy log, mounts a pole, and travels around the ring on the hand rail."
P.T. Barnum
In 1862 P.T. Barnum "bought the establishment and closed it for extensive renovations. When it reopened [as Barnum's Aquarial GardensBarnum's Aquarial Gardens
Barnum's Aquarial Gardens in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, was a public aquarium, zoo, and performance space located on Washington Street in the Financial District. P.T. Barnum bought the Boston Aquarial and Zoological Gardens in 1862, remodelled the space, changed the name of the business, and...
] he announced that the Gardens would be associated with the American Museum
Barnum's American Museum
Barnum's American Museum was located at the corner of Broadway and Ann Street in New York City, USA, from 1841 to 1865. The museum was owned by famous showman P.T. Barnum and his partner and original owner, John Scudder. Prior to their partnership, the museum was known as Scudder's American...
in New York and that he hoped 'to form such a happy blending of amusement with instruction so as not to depend solely upon the scientific public for support, but to render this establishment attractive and popular with all respectable classes.' James Cutting was then engaged to remain at the Gardens and take charge of the living whale, the seals, and other rare animals."
Events
- 1860
- October - "Five 'live Africans' just from their native shores, in their home dresses, and their home habits" ("a Hottentot, BushmanBushmenThe indigenous people of Southern Africa, whose territory spans most areas of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola, are variously referred to as Bushmen, San, Sho, Barwa, Kung, or Khwe...
, Fingo, Zulu and Kaffir") - December - "A new species of Actennia is now to be seen at the ... Gardens. It was dredged in about 50 fathoms of water, a few miles from Cape AnnCape AnnCape Ann is a rocky cape in northeastern Massachusetts on the Atlantic Ocean. The cape is located approximately 30 miles northeast of Boston and forms the northern edge of Massachusetts Bay. Cape Ann includes the city of Gloucester, and the towns of Essex, Manchester-by-the-Sea, and...
and brought to this city by the fishermen. It is attached to a mollusk -- of the species Tritonium decemcostatium -- to which it is supposed to fasten itself for the purpose of being carried from place to place. Professor AgassizLouis AgassizJean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz was a Swiss paleontologist, glaciologist, geologist and a prominent innovator in the study of the Earth's natural history. He grew up in Switzerland and became a professor of natural history at University of Neuchâtel...
... declared it to be an entirely new species." - December - "Mademoiselle Victoria, Queen of the Wizards, from Paris"
- October - "Five 'live Africans' just from their native shores, in their home dresses, and their home habits" ("a Hottentot, Bushman
- 1861
- January - "Professor HarringtonJonathan Harrington (ventriloquist)Jonathan Harrington was a ventriloquist and illusionist in 19th century United States. He performed in Boston, Philadelphia, and elsewhere.- Biography :...
, the Boston favorite, will exhibit his wonderful skill in ventriloquism and other marvels" - March - "The Robbers of Bagdad, or the Fairy Police" ("written expressly for this establishment ... produced under the direction of Mr. C.H. Wilson.") "After the dramatic performance, the arabian horse Abdallah, the sphinx, the educated bear, the moose and the kangaroos will go through their various performances in the ring. The seals Ned and Fanny, as usual."
- April - "An Hour in Olympus, or, a Glance at the Gods" (premier of "a grand scenic, musical, mythological, mimical, pantomimical and unprecedentedly extravagent olia podrida")
- "In an immense glass tank, a living white or Beluga whale. It measures 12 feet in length, and weighs 2,000 pounds. It was brought from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and is the only one ever taken alive."
- January - "Professor Harrington
See also
- Boston Aquarial GardensBoston Aquarial GardensThe Boston Aquarial Gardens was a public aquarium in Boston, Massachusetts, established by James Ambrose Cutting and Henry D Butler. The "conservatories [were] filled with rare marine animals imported and collected exclusively for this establishment; .....
, Cutting & Butler's previous public aquarium on Bromfield Street - Barnum's Aquarial GardensBarnum's Aquarial GardensBarnum's Aquarial Gardens in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, was a public aquarium, zoo, and performance space located on Washington Street in the Financial District. P.T. Barnum bought the Boston Aquarial and Zoological Gardens in 1862, remodelled the space, changed the name of the business, and...
(1862-1863), of P.T. Barnum
Further reading
- Catalogue of animals at the Boston Aquarial and Zoological Gardens : Central Court, Washington Street. Boston: 1860. American Philosophical Society, Broadsides Collection
- Boston Aquarial and Zoological Gardens. Ballou's Dollar Monthly Magazine, v.16, no.1, July 1862. Google books
- Jerry Ryan. The Forgotten Aquariums of Boston. Pascoag, R.I.: Finley Aquatic Books, 2002.
- Kim Nusco. Sally Putnam visits the Aquarial Gardens. Object of the Month, Massachusetts Historical Society, 2006
External links
- New England Aquarium. The Boston Aquarial Gardens and Zoological Gardens (1860 - 1863)