Newton, Massachusetts Community Preservation Program  >>  Proposals & Projects

Newton City Archives
goals:
   Preserve archival material held by all City departments, including but not limited to the City Clerk, City Engineer, Newton Free Library, and the Jackson Homestead (the City's history museum, as a partner in Historic Newton), by providing state-of-the art, climate-controlled, fireproof, accessible storage; and by preserving fragile or frequently used historic documents digitally, physically, or both.
locations:
   City Hall,  Newton Free Library, & Jackson Homestead (Newton History Museum)
total
funding:
  
$121,895 CP funds appropriated & spent
 (historic resources)
$83,185 CP funds appropriated, projects in progress
 (historic resources)
$1,903,000
 CP funds requested  (historic resources)
total
projects:
   4 (listed below in reverse chronological order)
contacts:
   See individual projects below.

City Archives - Engineering Plans & Maps
goals:
   Preserve and digitize the oldest and most fragile engineering maps and plans that the City is legally required to retain. The project will provide backup records as part of disaster recovery planning, and reduce the chance of further deterioration caused by active use, and allow access to the data from these maps through the City's geographic information system.
project
funding:
  
$1,903,000 CP funds requested (historic resources)
contacts:
   Darrell Azure, Engineering Archivist
Newton City Hall
1000 Commonwealth Avenue
Newton Centre, MA 02459
email:   dazure@newtonma.gov
phone:   617.796.1027
PROPOSAL REVIEW & APPROPRIATIONS
15 October 2010
  proposal
15 October 2010
  project manager's qualifications (submitted separately)
15 October 2010
  photos for proposal
15 October 2010
  letters of support for proposal
17 November 2010
  public hearing presentation (includes photos, may load slowly)
On 18 May 2011 the Community Preservation Committee voted to reject this proposal and require a revised pre-proposal by whatever deadline applies to the fiscal year for which this project is identified as a priority in the City's Capital Improvements Plan.  

City Archives - Survey
goals:
   Survey and set priorities for the preservation of archives held by all 25 City departments, based on the historic significance and use or demand for each set of records, the current condition of the records themselves, and their current storage conditions.
project
funding:
  
$46,640 CP funds requested (historic resources)
contacts:
   David Olson, City Clerk
Newton City Hall
1000 Commonwealth Avenue
Newton Centre, MA 02459
email:   dolson@newtonma.gov
phone:   617.796.1210

NOTE: This proposal is cosponsored by Historic Newton (specifically, by the Jackson Homestead as the City department in that public-private partnership) and by the Newton Free Library.
PROPOSAL REVIEW & APPROPRIATIONS
19 August 2010
  proposal
14 October 2010
   CPC funding recommendation
 15 November 2010
   Board order (appropriation)
PROJECT NEWS
6 December 2011
   project final report

 City Archives - Combined
goals:
   Preserve digitally and physically, as appropriate, archival material held in the Special Collections of the Newton Free Library, and partially duplicated in the vaults of the City Clerk and collections of the Jackson Homestead/Newton History Museum.

Specific collections covered by this proposal include: city directories from 1868 to 1934; 19th-century photographs of Newton Corner, Nonantum, the Nathaniel Allen House and from the Newell family; the original draft ms. of Samuel Francis Smith's 1880 History of Newton; and 1845-87 materials from the Eliot Church.
project
funding:
  
$35,545 CP funds appropriated (historic resources)
contacts:
   Ryan Hanson
Assistant Director, Newton Free Library
330 Homer St.
Newton Centre, MA 02459
email:    rhanson@minlib.net
phone:   617.796.1404
PROPOSAL REVIEW & APPROPRIATIONS
16 October 2009
  proposal
October-December 2009
  letters of support (incl. review/determination by Newton Historical Commission)
18 November 2009
  public hearing presentation
January 2010
  supplemental information requested by CPC
(long file, may take a while to load)
2 February 2010
  CPC funding recommendation
15 March 2010
  Board order (appropriation)
PROJECT NEWS
September  2010
  digitizing historic city directories: request for proposals
April 2011
  city directories online (1868-1934)

In addition to names & addresses, directories list residents’ occupations and information about the City budget, schools, clubs, religious institutions, and many other aspects of community life. 

Starting in 1889 you can use the “house directory” section to find out who lived in your house, how they were related to each other, and what they did for a living.

Don’t miss the advertisements! In 1868 the drugstore at Centre & Elmwood announced that “Foreign leeches will always be kept on hand.”
19 September 2011
  request for revised scope (no additional funds requested)
October 2011
  The historic documents, city directories, maps & photos preserved through this project are now online at Digital Newton:

This online archive documents Newton's social, cultural and governmental past, with a special focus onthe 19th through the early 20th century, a time when Newton was transforming from agriculture to industry and becoming a suburban Boston residential community.

Please browse the collection online and leave your comments. Your input can help shape the future of this valuable community resource.
6 December 2011
 project final report

City Archives - City Clerk 
goals:
   Preserve archival material held in the vaults of the City Clerk and City Engineer by providing climate- controlled, fireproof storage facilities, additional shelving to improve access; and preserving documents in danger of deterioration or loss, both digitally and physically.
project
funding:
  
$152,846 CP funds appropriated  (historic resources)
including $1,000 for City of Newton legal services
$29,950 unspent funds returned
$121,895
CP funds spent
contacts:
   David Olson, City Clerk
Newton City Hall
1000 Commonwealth Avenue
Newton Centre, MA 02459
email:   dolson@newtonma.gov
phone:   617.796.1210
proposal review & appropriation:
October 2006
  proposal, both parts
9 November 2006
  presentation (PowerPoint)
21 February 2007
  CPC funding recommendation, part 1
17 April 2007
  Board order, part 1 (appropriation)
December 2007
  proposal, part 2
23 January 2008
  presentation, part 2 (PowerPoint)
14 April 2009
  CPC funding recommendation, part 2
19 May 2009
  Board order, part 2 (appropriation)
project news:
January 2009
  City Clerk's Genealogical Research webpage,
with full text of birth, marriage, & death records

historic maps & atlases online
Including:
  • town maps: 1831, 1848, 1855
  • insurance/tax atlases with parcel boundaries, platted subdivisions (including some that were never actually built), building footprints & materials, and owners' names: 1874, 1886, 1895, 1907, 1917, & 1929
  • 1892 map of wetlands and streams
  • 1921 zoning map (Newton's first) 

CONTACT:  
Alice E. Ingerson, Ph.D., Community Preservation Program Manager
Newton Planning & Development Department,
City Hall, 1000 Commonwealth Ave., Newton, MA 02459
phone 617.796.1144, email  aingerson@newtonma.gov, TDD / TTY 617.796.1089