Beyond its use as pastureland, Boston Common fulfilled numerous judicial, religious, and military purposes from its inception. Public executions were apparently held on the grounds beginning in the 17th century, although the historical record tends to reference them obliquely. As one historian noted, we only know that the hills on the Common boasted a gallows as early as 1656 because, according to early town documents, "the gallows was [''sic''] ordered to be removed to the next knoll," on March 31, 1656.<ref>Nathaniel Shurtleff, ''A Topographical and Historical Description of Boston'' (Boston: Printed by request of the City Council, 1871), 348.</ref> Even the histories of well-documented executions—such as those of the Quakers Marmaduke Stevenson, William Robinson, Mary Dyer, and William Leddra, who were hanged for heresy in 1659 and 1660<ref>One of the first publications to describe their deaths was Edward Burrough's ''A Declaration of the Sad and Great Persecution and Martyrdom of the People of God, called Quakers, in New-England, for the Worshipping of God'' (1661).</ref>—are unspecific regarding location. While the Quaker executions have traditionally been sited on Boston Common, other sources indicate that the gallows were, in fact, further south on Boston Neck. The lack of clarity on this point suggests that the number of executions on the Common remains unknown, even though they are believed to have been held there until 1812.<ref>Howe 1921, 8n1, [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/keywords_in_early_american_landscape_design/items/itemKey/VH3MEITZ view on Zotero]. See also Shurtleff 1871, 352.</ref>
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, however, the various judicial, religious, and military roles of Boston Common were gradually overshadowed by its use as a recreational green space. Although it had always been used for leisure—in 1674, for instance, John Josselyn noted that it was a popular walking spot for "Gallants" and "their Marmalet-Madams"<ref>Quoted in John W. Reps, ''The Making of Urban America: A History of City Planning in the United States'' (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1965), 141, [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/keywords_in_early_american_landscape_design/items/itemKey/Z3R75RFG/q/making%20of%20urban%20america view on Zotero].</ref>—it was not until the 18th century that the Common underwent significant alterations to accommodate this function. A round of early improvements took place in 1728 and 1734 [see Figs. 4 and 5], when two rows of trees were planted along Tremont Street which together formed a shaded [[walk]] known as the [[Mall]]—prior to this, the natural features of the Common were limited to a few scattered trees, including the "Great Elm" at its center, and a small spring-fed Frog Pond nearby, which functioned as a wading hole in summer and a skating [[pond]] in winter.<ref>The "Great Elm" was believed to have predated European settlement in Boston and was cherished in the 19th century as a witness to the city's early history. It was felled by a storm in February 1876. See Anne Beamish, "Venerable Relic: The Great Elm on Boston Common," ''Arboricultural Journal'' 30, no. 3 (2017): 144–61.</ref>In 1784 additional trees were planted on the Common and parts of it leveled and graded. Throughout the first decades of the 19th century additional walkways were created and trees planted, so that the entire Common was enclosed by [[mall]]s and crisscrossed with tree-lined paths by the 1830s [Fig. 6].<ref>Shurtleff 1871, 320–28.</ref> Some, such as George Jacque, took issue with the strict regularity of the paths and plantings, which, though "convenient and useful," was incapable of pleasing the eye.<ref>George Jaques, "Trees in Cities," ''Magazine of Horticulture'' 17 (February 1851): 50–52, [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/keywords_in_early_american_landscape_design/items/itemKey/87A6ZJSH view on Zotero].</ref>