The Stone Institute & Newton Home for Aged People is an icon of Newton history. The property, some nine acres, was bought in 1764 by Thomas Tolman, who volunteered to be a Minuteman at Lexington in 1775. Sometime in the late Eighteenth Century the Tolman place was bought by Simon Elliot, an early Upper falls manufacturer. In 1826 Elliot sold the property to Otis Pettee, who was then a 31-year-old mechanic in Elliot's shops. Pettee went on to become an industrialist in his own right, operating the Pettee Mills at Newton Upper Falls and manufacturing cotton machinery and looms for export worldwide. Pettee built a large house on the property and his descendents occupied it until 1894, when it was sold to the trustees of the Stone Institute for use as a home for the aged.

The Institute was established by the wills of Newton residents Joseph L. Stone, and his wife, Elmira Reed Stone. who both died in 1889. The fund they established was sufficient to buy the property but not to maintain and operate the Home. The trustees found help from a group of Newton citizens led by the mayor, Henry E. Cobb. This group formed the Newton Home for Aged People Corporation to operate the enterprise, with Mayor Cobb as its president.

The Home was opened on May 4, 1899. In 1911 the Stone Institute Corporation was dissolved, and the Newton Home for Aged People became the Stone Institute & Newton Home for Aged People. A wing was added to the original Pettee house in 1914 (visible at the right of the view), and more recently, in 1995, a nursing-home facility was opened behind the original house.

The old Pettee mansion was a carpenter's confection of wide porches and sweeping stairways with fancy balustrades, and a cupola and widow's walk adorned the roofline. All of this architectural ornamentation has disappeared over the years.

The complete manufacturer's credit forms the divider running up the card back: "(Copyright) 1976 Yankee Colour Corp., Southborough, Mass. 01772."

The card was mailed (though no postmark date was imprinted) by Mrs. John A. Berquist, with the Institute's address as the return. It is in very good condition, although Mrs. Berquist's address sticker obscures part of the caption on the back of the card. It is marked "R-01-1" in pencil in the lower right corner.

Postcard type: Chrome
Publication Date: 1976