Parker hilltop is the highest open space on Mission Hill and central Boston at approximately 219 feet above sea level.  Looking east and southeast it is possible to literally see for miles out to the islands in Boston Harbor.  This urban wild, also known as the Baptist meadow, rests on the foundation of what once was a 1.47acre reservoir that was active between 1874 and 1910.

 

The meadow abuts the New England Baptist Hospital parking lot to its west.  It is defined by sharply inclined slopes that descend down to the 4th tier to the east, Parkerhill Avenue on the north, and a dirt access road to the south.  The slopes around its edges limit accessibility to the meadow.  This has allowed a natural state of growth that favors visits by a varied assortment of birds and wild life.

 

Due East, Parker Hilltop greets the morning sun each day.  The shimmering harbor in the early morning slowly brings into view clumps, like hugh whales, which son become recognizable as the Harbor Islands, and below them in the gleaming white wall the Kennedy Library.

- Richard Heath: Landscape Historian.