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Newton City Hall
1000 Commonwealth Ave
Newton Centre, MA 02459
617-796-1000
TDD/TTY 617-796-1089
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Monday - Friday
8:30am-5:00pm
Tuesday
8:30am- 8:00pm
Newton Highlands
Adapted from “Discover Historic
Newton Highlands”
Much of present day Newton Highlands was part of a land grant in 1634 to John Haynes, a newly arrived wealthy English landowner. He served as Governor of the Colony the following year, before moving to Connecticut where he died in 1654. The land went to his heirs, and most of it was not sold for two or three generations. Even in Colonial times, settlement in Newton Highlands was slow.
Only two highways served the area in the 18th century: the north-south Dedham Road (now Centre Street), and the east-west Sherborn Road (now Clark, Beacon, Curtis, Ramsdell, and Woodward Streets). Slowly, farms spread out along these highways and Newton Highlands enjoyed a long agricultural period. As late as 1870, fewer than 20 families resided in the area.
Suburban development occurred in Newton Corner and West Newton following the construction of the Boston and Albany Railroad in the late 1830s. After the Charles River Railroad was built through the Highlands in 1852, real estate developers looked for opportunities there, too. Portions of Lincoln, Walnut, Floral, and Hyde Streets were laid out, but few lots sold. The railroad had been built to serve the industries at Newton Upper Falls, and commuter trains ran infrequently, discouraging development. This was especially true during the 1860s when trains operated around the clock transporting gravel for the filling of Boston’s Back Bay, an immense project that lasted more than a decade.
Suburban growth occurred rapidly in the 1870s once the Back Bay landfill project was virtually complete. By 1874, the village was firmly established with 521 new residents who voted that it be named Newton Highlands. This newly accessible village was especially appealing to Boston residents who viewed it as a healthful, rustic environment in which to raise a family. Able to commute daily to employment in the city, a broad cross section of working, middle, and upper class families were attracted to the bustling village.
The village contains many fine examples of Victorian architecture ranging
from the Mansard and Italianate of the 1870s, to the turn of the century
Colonial Revival. Residences, churches, and public buildings from several
phases of Newton Highlands’ development will be discussed on this
tour. None of the houses on the tour are open to the public.
Text taken, with permission, from Discover Historic Newton Highlands. Revised
and updated by Newton Planning and Development Department in conjunction with
the Newton Historical Commission, July 2002.
A special thanks to Simplex Design Company (189 Lincoln Street) and to Carol Meyer (50 Fairlee Road), for permission to use their drawings of house plans for their respective properties.
The Newton Neighborhood Brochure Program has been financed in part with federal funds from the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, through the Massachusetts Historical Commission, Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin, Chairman. However, the contents and opinions do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of the Interior, or the Massachusetts Historical Commission.
The U.S. Department of the Interior prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, gender or handicap in its federally assisted programs. If you believe you have been discriminated against in any program, activity, or facility as described above, or if you desire further information, please write to: Office of Equal Opportunity, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street NW, Room 1324, Washington, DC 20240.
David B. Cohen, Mayor
Photos and web-page adaptation: Srdjan S. Nedeljkovic, M.D.
Photos taken on Saturday, March 15, 2003.
Historical photos courtesy of the Jackson Homestead