Once a major attraction, the Bear Dens at Boston’s Franklin Park now sit silent and obscure. The old enclosures are tucked away in a wooded area outside the modern boundaries of the zoo. Walking around it, you can sense the former grandeur of the place, which somehow makes it all the more eerie.
Lower Cage
The Bear Dens date back to 1912, when Franklin Park Zoo first opened. Each cage was intended to hold a different species of bear, such as black bear, grizzly, and polar. For reasons including costs and a change in the zoo’s layout, the cages were abandoned in 1971. They’ve been sitting empty ever since. However, they have gotten some subsequent attention – a scene in the 2003 film Mystic River was filmed there.
Stairs to the Upper Cages
The Bears Dens sit in a secluded area of the park known as Long Crouch Woods. Finding them, however, was quite easy (their location is actually marked on Google Maps). I drove to a parking area on Pierpont Road, inside of Franklin Park. From there, I walked down Playstead Road, in the opposite direction of the zoo’s modern location. Eventually, when a stadium building was on my left, a path appeared on my right. Moments after heading up that path, I was greeted with the grand stairs of the Bear Dens.
The Main Upper Cage
Side of the Main Cage
To the left of the staircase is one of the bear cages. Up the stairs are two more, the larger one once serving as two separate enclosures via a dividing fence. The rusted iron and stonework make for an impressive site. The cages have old swimming pools, now filled with weeds instead of water. The most striking visual is a large engraving on the back wall of the main cage. It features the 1912 Boston seal being held aloft by two bears.
The Seal
Another Angle of the Main Cage
As with other abandoned places, there’s a surreal quality to the Bear Dens. It was once a major exhibit, and now it sits in obscurity. It’s a fascinating window into the history of when the zoo first opened.
Second Upper Cage
Back of the Main Cage
To add context, here are some period pictures of the Bear Dens:
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https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/6682xr20d
Location:
Playstead Road
Boston, MA 02121
Sources:
Arrison, Julie. “Historic American Buildings Survey–The Old Bear Dens.” olmstedbooks (blog). March 3, 2008. http://olmstedbooks.blogspot.com/2008/03/historic-american-buildings-survery-old.html.
Gilbride, Jeff. “Starring Boston: Neighborhoods that give ‘Mystic’ its magic.” The Boston Globe. October 9, 2003. http://archive.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2003/10/09/starring_boston/.
“Hiking – Long Crouch Woods.” Franklin Park Coalition. Accessed September 10, 2018. https://www.franklinparkcoalition.org/longcrouch-woods/.
Oliveira, Rebeca. “Historic zoo cages decaying in park.” Jamaica Plain Gazette. January 17, 2014. http://jamaicaplaingazette.com/2014/01/17/historic-zoo-cages-decaying-in-park/.
Written by A. P. Sylvia
