Discover 35 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Newton (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Walnut Hills Cemetery, Gasson Hall, and Newton City Hall and War Memorial. Also, be sure to include Hemlock Gorge Reservation in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Newton (Massachusetts).
Table of Contents
Walnut Hills Cemetery
Cemetery in Brookline, Massachusetts. Walnut Hills Cemetery is a historic cemetery on Grove Street and Allandale Road in Brookline, Massachusetts. It encompasses 45.26 acres, with mature trees and puddingstone outcrops, and was laid out in 1875 in the then-fashionable rural cemetery style. Many past prominent citizens of the town, including architect H.H. Richardson, are buried here. The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.[1]
Gasson Hall
Building in Newton, Massachusetts. Gasson Hall is a building on the campus of Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Designed by Charles Donagh Maginnis in 1908, the hall has influenced the development of Collegiate Gothic architecture in North America. Gasson Hall is named after the 13th president of Boston College, Thomas I. Gasson, S.J. considered BC's "second founder."[2]
Newton City Hall and War Memorial
City hall. The Newton City Hall and War Memorial is a historic city hall and war memorial building located in the village of Newton Centre in Newton, Massachusetts. Built in 1932 in the Colonial Revival style, the building was designed by Allen and Collens, with landscaping by the renowned Olmsted Brothers. The building's purpose was to serve as a new city hall, and as a memorial to the city's soldiers of the First World War. On February 16, 1990, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.[3]
Address: 1000 Commonwealth Ave., Newton MA 02459, Newton (Newton)
Hemlock Gorge Reservation
Hemlock Gorge Reservation is a state-owned, public recreation area and urban wild comprising 23 acres on the Charles River in Newton and Needham, Massachusetts. The reservation is managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.[4]
Jackson Homestead
Museum in Newton, Massachusetts. The Jackson Homestead, located at 527 Washington Street, in the village of Newton Corner, in Newton, Massachusetts, is an historic house that served as a station on the Underground Railroad before the Civil War.
It was built in 1809 in the Federal style by Timothy Jackson (1756–1814) on his family's farm. His son William Jackson (1783–1855) lived in it from 1820 until his death. William Jackson was an abolitionist and was active in politics on the local, state and national levels and served in the United States Congress from 1833 to 1837. The home was occupied by his family until 1932 when it was rented out. In 1949 it was given to the city of Newton and in 1950 the Newton History Museum was established there.[5]
Address: 527 Washington St, 02458-1433 Newton (Newton)
Echo Bridge
Bridge in Needham, Massachusetts. Echo Bridge is a historic masonry bridge spanning the Charles River between Needham to Newton Upper Falls, Massachusetts, and Ellis Street in Newton. The bridge carries the Sudbury Aqueduct and foot traffic, and is located in the Hemlock Gorge Reservation. At the time of its construction in 1875–1877 it was the second longest masonry arch in the country. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, and was named an American Water Landmark in 1981.[6]
Address: Quinobequin Rd., 02464 Newton (Newton)
Saco–Pettee Machine Shops
The Saco–Pettee Machine Shops is a historic factory complex at 156 Oak Street in the Newton Upper Falls area of Newton, Massachusetts. Although the area has an industrial history dating to the early 19th century, the oldest buildings in this complex, consisting of about thirteen brick buildings, were built in 1892. The property, a major economic force in the development of Newton Upper Falls, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. It was home to Clark's N.A. the North American home base to Clark's Shoes, makers of fine footwear, until they relocated to Waltham Ma. in October 2016.[7]
Evangelical Baptist Church
Building in Newton, Massachusetts. The Evangelical Baptist Church is an historic church located at 23 Chapel Street, in the village of Nonantum in Newton, Massachusetts. Built in 1873 in Gothic Revival style, it was designed by noted Boston architect Charles Edward Parker, who had in 1853 designed what today is the Architects Building of the Boston Society of Architects at 52 Broad Street, Boston. Evangelical Baptist Church was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 4, 1986.
The Evangelical Baptist Church is still an active congregation.[8]
Address: 23 Chapel St, 02458-1010 Newton (Newton)
Newton Free Library
Library in Newton, Massachusetts. Newton Free Library, the public library of Newton, Massachusetts, provides an extensive collection of print, non-print, and electronic resources, a comprehensive reference service, and a wide array of educational and cultural programs for people of all ages.[9]
Address: 330 Homer St, 02459 Newton Center (Newton)
Needham Street Bridge
Bridge. The Needham Street Bridge is a historic bridge at Needham Street over the Charles River connecting Needham and Newton, Massachusetts. The bridge was built in 1875, when Needham Street was laid out, connecting Newton Centre, Newton Highlands, and Needham center. It was designed and built by Hiram Blaisdell and William Wheeler, then in the early stages of a successful civil engineering career. The bridge is one of the finest surviving stone arch bridges in the Boston area. The bridge is distinctive among those that do survive as not having been widened.
The bridge has three spans, with a total length of 95 feet (29 m) and a roadway width of 40 feet (12 m); there are 65 feet (20 m) of wing walls along the river banks. Each span is a semi-elliptical arch spanning 27 feet (8.2 m). It is one of Newton's oldest bridges.
The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.[10]
Crystal Lake
Pond in Massachusetts. Crystal Lake is a 33-acre natural great pond located in Newton, Massachusetts. Its shores, mostly lined with private homes, also host two small parks and a designated swimming area with a bathhouse. The public is not allowed to swim outside of the small swimming area.[11]
Address: 16 Rogers St., 02461 Newton (Newton)
Boston College
Private university in Newton, Massachusetts. Boston College is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classified as an R1 research university, it still uses the word "college" in its name to reflect its historical position as a small liberal arts college. Its main campus is a historic district and features some of the earliest examples of collegiate gothic architecture in North America.
Boston College offers bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and doctoral degrees through its eight colleges and schools: Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences, Carroll School of Management, Lynch School of Education and Human Development, Connell School of Nursing, Graduate School of Social Work, Boston College Law School, Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, Woods College of Advancing Studies.
Boston College athletic teams are the Eagles. Their colors are maroon and gold and their and mascot is Baldwin the Eagle. The Eagles compete in NCAA Division I as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference in all sports offered by the ACC. The men's and women's ice hockey teams compete in Hockey East. Boston College's men's ice hockey team has won five national championships.
Alumni and affiliates of the university include governors, ambassadors, members of Congress, scholars, writers, medical researchers, Hollywood actors, and professional athletes. Boston College has graduated several Rhodes, Fulbright, and Goldwater scholars. Other notable alumni include a U.S. Speaker of the House, a U.S. Secretary of State, and chief executives of Fortune 500 companies.[12]
Address: 140 Commonwealth Ave, Newton (Newton)
First Baptist Church in Newton
Building in Newton, Massachusetts. The First Baptist Church in Newton was founded in 1788. Its historic building is located at 848 Beacon Street in the village of Newton Centre, in Newton, Massachusetts. On April 15, 1982, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.[13]
Address: 848 Beacon St, 02459-1801 Newton (Newton)
Capt. Edward Durant House
Museum in Newton, Massachusetts. The Durant-Kenrick House and Grounds is a historic late First Period house at 286 Waverly Avenue in Newton Centre, Massachusetts, that is now a historic house museum.[14]
Address: 286 Waverley Ave, 02458 Newton (Newton)
Bullough's Pond
Pond in Massachusetts. Bullough's Pond, a former mill pond located in Newton, Massachusetts, is now a decorative pond in a suburban neighborhood, used for bird watching and walking. In the nineteenth century it was the site of a commercial ice business. Since the early 2000s, temperatures have warmed to the point that its winter ice is no longer thick enough to support skating safely.[15]
Dupee Estate–Mary Baker Eddy Home
The Dupee Estate, located at 400 Beacon Street in the village of Chestnut Hill, Newton, Massachusetts, was the last home of Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science.[16]
Address: 400 Beacon St, 02467 Chestnut Hill (Newton)
First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton
Unitarian universalist church in Newton, Massachusetts. The First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton occupies a prominent location at 1326 Washington Street in the heart of the village of West Newton in Newton, Massachusetts. Architect Ralph Adams Cram designed the church, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. designed the grounds, the cornerstone was laid in 1905, and it was dedicated in 1906; it is one of the village's oldest buildings. The church is in Cram's signature Gothic Revival style, with buttressed walls and a blocky square tower with crenellations and spires. An enclosed courtyard is formed by an office wing, banquet hall, and parish house, which are built to resemble Elizabethan architecture with brick first floor and half-timbered upper level.
The Unitarian Society was organized in 1848, and its first building was built in 1860. A Gothic Revival structure later expanded with Stick style decoration, it stood at the present location of the West Newton Cinema. The present building was built on the site of an early experimental normal school (later moved to Framingham and now Framingham State University, and has a stained glass window featuring two Massachusetts education pioneers (and parishioners of the church), Horace Mann and Cyrus Peirce.
The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the First Unitarian Church in 1986.[17]
Address: 1326 Washington St, 02465 Newton (Newton)
United Parish of Auburndale
United methodist church in Newton, Massachusetts. United Parish of Auburndale, formerly the Auburndale Congregational Church, is a historic church at 64 Hancock Street in the Auburndale village of Newton, Massachusetts. Built in 1857 for an 1850 congregation and repeatedly enlarged, it is a prominent regional example of Romanesque architecture in wood. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 4, 1986.[18]
Address: 64 Hancock St, 02466 Auburndale (Newton)
Union Street Historic District
The Union Street Historic District is a historic district on Union Street between Langley Road and Herrick Road, and at 17–31 Herrick Road in Newton, Massachusetts. It encompasses the city's only significant cluster of 19th century commercial buildings. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
Development in the Newton Centre area did not begin until the arrival of the railroad in the late 1880s, and the construction in 1890 of the railroad station that served the village. The district includes five buildings: three commercial buildings that line the north side of Union Street, the railroad station, and an apartment block on Herrick Street.
The Newton Centre Station (no longer formally affiliated with the railroad line, which now serves the MBTA Green Line D branch) was designed by H. H. Richardson and completed after his death by his successor firm, Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge. It has typical Richardsonian Romanesque styling, with brownstone and granite construction, and an overhanging slate roof with arched eyebrow dormer windows. The station and an adjacent freight and baggage house were listed on the National Register as part of a district of surviving Richardson railroad stations in Newton; the freight building was mostly demolished in 1985, with parts of the original building being incorporated into new construction on the site, and original landscaping by the Olmsted Brothers also does not survive.
The Bray building at 93–105 is the other major building on Union Street. This 2-1/2 story Classical Revival building is built out of buff-colored brick, with a copper-clad hip roof, and a modillioned cornice. Arched windows in the attic are also lined with copper. It was built in 1893 for Mellen Bray, who also built the apartment block at 17–31 Herrick Street.
The Union building at 65–73 Union Street was built in 1896. Georgian Revival in style, it has seven bays with storefronts on the ground level, and an entranceway recessed behind an arch flanked by brick pilasters. It also has a modillioned cornice, with dentil moulding.[19]
Address: 107R Union St, Newton Centre, Newton (Newton)
Mary Immaculate of Lourdes Church
Catholic church in Newton, Massachusetts. Mary Immaculate of Lourdes Church, also referred to as St. Mary's, is a Roman Catholic parish of the Archdiocese of Boston located in Newton, Massachusetts. Its pastor is Father Charles J. Higgins. The parish is known locally as one of the few Boston parishes to offer the Tridentine Mass.[20]
Address: 270 Elliot St, 02464-1203 Newton (Newton)
Andover Newton Theological School
Independent school in Newton, Massachusetts. Andover Newton Theological School was a graduate school and seminary in Newton, Massachusetts. Affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA and the United Church of Christ, it was an official open and affirming seminary, meaning that it was open to students of same-sex or transgender orientation and generally advocated for tolerance of it in church and society.
In November 2015, the school announced that it would sell its campus and become part of Yale Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut, a process it completed in July 2017.[21]
Address: 210 Herrick Rd, 02459-2243 Newton (Newton)
Our Lady Help of Christians Historic District
Church in Newton, Massachusetts. Our Lady Help of Christians Historic District encompasses a complex of Roman Catholic religious buildings in the Nonantum village of Newton, Massachusetts. It includes four fine examples of brick Gothic Revival architecture: the church, convent, and rectory, as well as Trinity Catholic High School. The first three buildings were designed by noted ecclesiastical architect James Murphy, and were built between 1873 and 1890. The high school building was built in 1924, also in the Gothic Revival style. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.[22]
Address: 573 Washington St, 02458-1423 Newton (Newton)
East Parish Burying Ground
Burying ground. East Parish Burying Ground, also known as Centre Street Burying Ground or Centre Street Cemetery, is an historic cemetery located at Centre and Cotton streets in the village of Newton Corner in the city of Newton, Massachusetts. On December 23, 1983, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It has been called the "most important, the most evocative and also the most fragile historic site in the city."[23]
St. Mary's Episcopal Church
Church in Newton, Massachusetts. St. Mary's Episcopal Church and Cemetery is a historic church and cemetery at 258 Concord Street, in the village of Newton Lower Falls, Newton, Massachusetts. St. Mary's Parish was formed in 1811. The church, built in 1813–14 and restyled in 1838, is the oldest church in Newton, and is a fine example of Gothic Revival/Federal style architecture. The cemetery, which dates from 1812, is the oldest non-government-owned cemetery in Newton. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.[24]
Address: 258 Concord St, 02462-1315 Newton (Newton)
First Church of Christ
Church in Newton. The former First Church of Christ, Scientist, built in 1940, is an historic Christian Science church building located at 391 Walnut Street on the corner of Otis Street in the village of Newtonville, in Newton, Massachusetts. It was designed in the redbrick Colonial Revival style by Densmore, LeClear and Robbins, architects. Due to cost constraints, its steeple was added later. In September, 2004, the church sold its building for $1,050,000 to be converted into apartments. The church in 2007 held services in rented rooms at 300 Walnut Street in the Masonic Building. but is now meeting at 1141 Walnut Street, in Newton Highlands. The building has since been divided into 11 condominium units. It is now called the Oxford House, and was the city's first inclusionary zoning project.
The building is a contributing property in the Newtonville Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 4, 1986.[25]
Address: 363 Walnut St, 02460-1945 Newton (Newton)
Adams Street Shul
Shul in Newton, Massachusetts. Congregation Agudas Achim Anshei Sfard, more commonly known as The Adams Street Shul, is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue located at 168 Adams Street in the village of Nonantum in Newton, Massachusetts. Built in 1912 for a congregation established in 1911, it is home to Newton's oldest Jewish congregation, and one of the oldest in the region still occupying its original synagogue. Its Romanesque Revival building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 16, 1990.[26]
Central Congregational Church
Church building. The Central Congregational Church is an historic church building located at 218 Walnut Street, in the village of Newtonville in Newton, Massachusetts. Built in 1895, it is the only ecclesiastical work in the city by the noted Boston architects Hartwell and Richardson, and one of its finest examples of Romanesque architecture. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. Since September 7, 2003, it has been the Newton Campus of the Boston Chinese Evangelical Church.[27]
Second Church in Newton
Building in Newton, Massachusetts. The Second Church in Newton, United Church of Christ, is located at 60 Highland Street in West Newton, a village of Newton, Massachusetts. This church is rooted in the Congregational denomination, does not require uniformity of belief, and welcomes all visitors. Its present church building, a Gothic Victorian structure designed by architects Allen & Collens and completed in 1916, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.[28]
Address: 60 Highland St, 02465-2405 West Newton (Newton)
Mount Pleasant
Mount Pleasant is a historic two story wood frame estate house at 15 Bracebridge Road in Newton Centre, Massachusetts, built circa 1856. It is a well-preserved example of the academic Italianate style, with a three-bay facade and hip roof with a small gable over the centered entry, and a three-story turret. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
The Mount Pleasant house was built for Roswell Turner, a major land owner and real estate developer in the Newton Centre area. The house and surrounding property were owned for many of the later years of the 19th century and early years of the 20th century by Charles S. Davis, another major force in the development of Newton Centre. Under Davis's ownership, much of the original estate was split off for other houses and streets to be built, while the original Mount Pleasant house remained. By 1917, Mr. Addison C. Burnham owned the house and was calling his smaller property "Jolly's Hollow". Subsequent owners continued to call it "Jolly's Hollow", at least into 2018.
In January 1997, the Wilson family, owners of Jolly's Hollow/Mount Pleasant, donated 0.5 acres of the wooded portion of their property to the City of Newton for the creation of the Wilson Conservation Area. In 2012, the Wilsons donated to the Newton Conservators a conservation restriction to preserve an additional 1.5 acres of their land. This conservation land, as intended, adds a link to a popular walking trail that connects a playground, elementary school, and park nearby, and also to suburbs to the west. The walking trail is on top of the underground Cochituate and Sudbury Aqueducts (built in 1848 and 1878, respectively, to supply water to Boston and nearby municipalities). The Mount Pleasant house happens to be situated right between the two aqueducts, which both have easements under the Jolly's Hollow property.
The Wilsons sold the house and property in July 2018 to the Fiete family, having originally purchased it from the Scribner family in March 1966.[29]
South Burying Ground
Burying ground. The South Burying Ground, also known as Winchester Street Cemetery, or Evergreen Cemetery, is an historic cemetery located on Winchester Street in the village of Newton Highlands, in the city of Newton, Massachusetts. Established in 1802, it is Newton's third cemetery. It has 357 recorded burials, dating between 1803 and 1938. The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.[30]
Address: Winchester Street, 02461 Newton (Newton)
House at 3 Davis Avenue
The House at 3 Davis Avenue in West Newton, Massachusetts, is a well-preserved modest Italianate residence. It is a 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame house, three bays wide, with a front-facing gable roof. It was built c. 1853, and has an unusual amount of decorative trim for a modest house. The eaves and gables are studded with brackets, and the corners have quoining blocks. The front parlor windows, sheltered by a porch also studded with brackets, are of extended length.
The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.[31]
Hyde House
The Hyde House is a historic house located at 27 George Street in Newton, Massachusetts.[32]
The Paint Bar
Museum, Eat and drink, Nightlife, Drinks, Paint and pottery studios, Game and entertainment center, Classes and workshops, Art gallery, Bars and clubs
Address: 823 Washington St, 02460-1625 Newton (Newton)
McMullen Museum of Art
Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. McMullen Museum of Art is the university art museum of Boston College in Brighton, Massachusetts, near the main campus in Chestnut Hill.[33]
Longyear Museum
Specialty museum, Museum
Address: 1125 Boylston St, 02467 Chestnut Hill (Brookline)