Centennial Park in Wellesley, early spring 2024

May 13, 2024

We recently took a late afternoon hike at Centennial Park, 87-acres of Natural Resources Commission conservation land in the Wellesley Country Club/MassBay Community College end of town. The Oakland St. parking lot offers space for about a dozen cars at this spot popular with dogs and their human friends. NRC policy states pets “must be at all times under the immediate control of the owner or on a leash.” In Centennial Park, the dogs roam free, and “immediate control” seems up to interpretation.

AREA: Centennial Park, 135 Oakland St., Wellesley

RECENT HISTORY: Purchased from the Sisters of Charity of Mt. Saint Vincent by the Town in 1980 for Wellesley’s 1981 Centennial Celebration. Funding was provided by the Wellesley Conservation Council (now known as the Wellesley Conservation Land Trust) and the Friends of Centennial Park. The Wellesley Natural Resources Commission provides stewardship of the area.

HIGHLIGHT: View from the top of Maugus Hill, one of the highest points in Wellesley.

Here are a few pics:

Centennial Park, Wellesley

 

Centennial Park, Wellesley

 

Centennial Park, Wellesley

 

Centennial Park, Wellesley

 

Centennial Park, Wellesley
Elizabeth Seton Residence, top of hill. The residential care community is a ministry of the Sisters of Charity, owners of some 14 acres abutting Centennial Park. The Sisters would like to sell the property to a for-profit or non-profit that can manage the current assisted living and skilled nursing facilities on the campus through the lifetimes of nuns that retire there. But it will take a zoning amendment to make finding a buyer easier, according to the proponents. So far, discussion on the issue has not yet made it to Town Meeting.