Cambridge (christened Newtown in 1691 and modified to Newton in 1766) was settled in 1631. Newton occupies the southeastern end of Middlesex County, and is bordered by “Waltham and Watertown… Brookline and the Brighton and West-Roxbury wards of Boston… Needham… Wellesley and Weston.” A general history of Newton town and city is followed by individual chapters devoted to the villages of: Newton, Nonantum Hill, Newtonville, Nonantum, West Newton, Auburndale, Woodland, Riverside, Newton Lower Falls, Waban, Eliot, Newton Upper Falls, Newton Highlands, Newton Centre, Chestnut Hill, and Oak Hill. These fifteen villages “together form ‘The Newtons,’ the garden city of Massachusetts.” Discussions of individual villages include “its chief streets and parks, public and private buildings, famous natives and residents, bits of legend and poetry, stories of the colonial, Revolutionary, and modern days, and some local history.” Names pepper every page. This handbook is a rich source of historical and statistical material, filled with notable and interesting facts, and presented in “a simple, entertaining and trustworthy manner.” It boasts over 200 illustrations, including 2 maps of Newton, and several pages of charming vintage advertisements.
M. F. Sweetser
(1889), 2021, paper, index, 344 pp.
ISBN: 9780788420429
101-S2042
