Discover 10 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Wellesley (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Davis Museum at Wellesley College, Wellesley Congregational Church, and Whitin Observatory. Also, be sure to include Wellesley College in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Wellesley (Massachusetts).
Table of Contents
Davis Museum at Wellesley College
Museum in Wellesley, Massachusetts. The Davis Museum in Wellesley, Massachusetts is located on the Wellesley College campus. The college art collection was first displayed in the Farnsworth Art Building, founded in 1889. The museum in its present form opened in 1993 in a building designed by Rafael Moneo.
The permanent collection of about 11,000 objects ranges from antiquity to the present day. The artists represented in the collection include Jacopo Sansovino, Pinturicchio, Hiroshige, Giorgio Vasari, Lavinia Fontana, Angelica Kauffmann, Ammi Phillips, John Singleton Copley, George Inness, Paul Cézanne, Georg Kolbe, Oskar Kokoschka, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, Andy Warhol, Alex Katz, Al Held, Knox Martin, Robert Rauschenberg, Sol LeWitt as well as works by Giacomo Manzù and Alberto Diego Giacometti. A large, recently restored mosaic from Antioch, excavated in a joint expedition with the Worcester Art Museum, is also present.[1]
Address: 106 Central St, 02481-8203 Wellesley (Wellesley)
Wellesley Congregational Church
The Wellesley Congregational Church and Cemetery is a historic religious facility at 2 Central Street in the center of Wellesley, Massachusetts. The church is a brick Georgian Revival structure designed by Carrère and Hastings and built between 1918 and 1922. It is the fourth structure built for a congregation established in 1798, when the area was part of Newton. The church complex includes the main sanctuary and administrative offices and a chapel, all part of the original 1918 design, and a 1955 parish hall.
The property was listed the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.[2]
Address: 2 Central St, 02482 Wellesley (Wellesley)
Whitin Observatory
Observatory in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Whitin Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by Wellesley College. Built in 1900, with additions in 1906, 1967, and 2010, it is located in Wellesley, Massachusetts and named after Wellesley College trustee Mrs. John Crane Whitin of Whitinsville, who donated the funds for the observatory. Astronomer Sarah Frances Whiting was the first director of the new Wellesley College Astronomy Department.
The facilities include a 0.7m PlaneWave CDK700 reflector, a 12" Fitz/Clark refractor, a 6" Alvan Clark refractor, a Hale Spectrohelioscope, and Meade 8" SCTs.[3]
Wellesley College
Liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Wellesley College is a private historically women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial grouping of elite current and former women's colleges in the northeastern United States. Wellesley's endowment of $2.2 billion is the largest out of all women's colleges and the 49th largest among all colleges and universities in the United States in 2019.
Wellesley is home to 56 departmental and interdepartmental majors spanning the liberal arts, as well as over 150 student clubs and organizations. Wellesley athletes compete in the NCAA Division III New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference. Its 500-acre campus was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead and houses the Davis Museum and a Botanic Garden.
Notable alumnae and affiliates include two U.S. Secretaries of State; the first female nominee for President of the United States from a major party; noted academics, journalists, writers, politicians, diplomats, activists, businesspeople, filmmakers, and entertainers; and recipients of Emmy, Tony, Academy, and Peabody Awards, the Nobel Prize, and the Pulitzer Prize.[4]
Address: 106 Central St, Wellesley (Wellesley)
Massachusetts Bay Community College
Massachusetts Bay Community College is a public community college in Norfolk and Middlesex Counties. Founded in 1961, MassBay currently serves more than 4,400 full-time and part-time students on its three locations: Wellesley, Ashland, and Framingham. MassBay offers more than 70 degree and certificate programs aimed at helping students transfer to a four-year college or university or towards direct placement into a career. Massachusetts Bay Community College is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education.[5]
Address: 50 Oakland Street, Wellesley (Wellesley)
Wellesley Town Hall
Building in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Wellesley Town Hall is located at 525 Washington Street in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Occupying a prominent location in Hunnewell Park near the town's central business district, this Romanesque stone building was designed by Shaw & Hunnewell and built between 1881 and 1886. Its construction was funded by, and it was built on land donated by, H. H. Hunnewell. The east end of the building, which was finished first, was opened as the public library in 1883, whose initial collection was also funded by Hunnewell. The building is a striking example of the then-fashionable Richardsonian Romanesque, although it also exhibits French Chateau features seen by the architects during travels in Europe.
The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.[6]
Address: 530 Washington St, 02482 Wellesley (Wellesley)
Temple Beth Elohim - Wellesley
Sacred and religious sites, Synagogue
Address: 10 Bethel Rd, 02481-3595 Wellesley (Wellesley)
Wellesley College Botanic Gardens
Botanical garden in Wellesley, Massachusetts. The Wellesley College Botanic Gardens are botanical gardens located on the campus of Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. The greenhouses and 22 acres of outdoor gardens include thousands of plants representing over 1,500 different taxa from more than 150 different plant families.[7]
H. H. Hunnewell estate
The H. H. Hunnewell estate in Wellesley, Massachusetts was the country home of H. H. Hunnewell, containing over 500 species of woody plants in 53 families. The estate remains in the family, and includes the first topiary garden in the United States, featuring intricate geometrically clipped native Eastern white pine and Eastern arborvitae. A collection of specialty greenhouses feature over 1,000 plant species. The estate has been cared for by six generations of the Hunnewell family.
The property is located within the Hunnewell Estates Historic District, on Washington Street in southwest Wellesley, near Boston, Massachusetts.
All of the properties within the district, including the H.H. Hunnewell estate, are private residences and are not open to the public.[8]
Jewett Art Gallery at Wellesley College
Museum
Address: 106 Central St, Wellesley (Wellesley)