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Newton, Massachusetts
Seal
Nickname: The Garden City
Location in Middlesex County in Massachusetts
Coordinates: 42°20′13″N 71°12′35″W / 42.33694, -71.20972
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
County	Middlesex
Settled	1630
Incorporated	1688
Government
- Type	Strong Mayor-Board of Aldermen
- Mayor	David B. Cohen (Dem)
Area
- Total	18.2 sq mi (47.1 km²)
- Land	18.1 sq mi (46.7 km²)
- Water	0.2 sq mi (0.4 km²)
Elevation	100 ft (30 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	83,829
- Density	4,643.6/sq mi (1,792.9/km²)
Time zone	Eastern (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	Eastern (UTC-4)
ZIP code	02458, 02459, 02460, 02461, 02462, 02464, 02465, 02467, 02468, 02495
Area code(s)	617 / 857
FIPS code	25-45560
GNIS feature ID	0617675
Website: http://www.ci.newton.ma.us/

The City of Newton in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, is an important residential suburb of Boston, which abuts it on the east. According to the 2000 census, the population of Newton was 83,829, making it the tenth largest city in the state.

Contents 1 History 2 Geography 2.1 Villages 3 Demographics 4 Government 4.1 City 4.2 County 5 State 6 National 7 Education 7.1 Preschools 7.2 Primary and secondary education 7.3 Higher education 7.4 Former colleges 8 Media 8.1 Newspapers 8.2 Television 9 Transportation 10 Points of interest 11 Cemeteries 11.1 Notable grave sites 12 Notable residents 13 Trivia 14 See also 15 References 16 External links

[edit] History

Newton was settled in 1630 as part of Newetowne, which was renamed Cambridge in 1638. It was incorporated as a separate town, known as Cambridge Village, in 1688. It was renamed Newtown in 1691 and finally Newton in 1766.^[1] It became a city in 1873. Newton is known as The Garden City.

The city has two symphony orchestras, the New Philharmonia Orchestra of Massachusetts and the Newton Symphony Orchestra.

The Newton Free Library possesses more than 500,000 volumes of print materials (2004), as well as art, both original and prints, sound recordings and videos: the largest collection in the Minuteman Library Network.

Each April on Patriots Day, the Boston Marathon is run through the city, entering from Wellesley on Route 16 (Washington Street) where runners encounter the first of the four infamous Newton Hills. It then turns right onto Route 30 (Commonwealth Avenue) for the long haul into Boston. There are two more hills before reaching Centre Street, and then the fourth and most infamous of of all, Heartbreak Hill, rises shortly after Centre Street. Residents and visitors line the race route along Washington Street and Commonwealth Avenue to cheer the runners.

[edit] Geography

Newton is in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, at 42°20′16″N, 71°12′36″W (42.337713, -71.209936).^GR1 The city is bordered by Waltham and Watertown on the north, Needham and the West Roxbury neighborhood of Boston on the south, Wellesley and Weston on the west, and Brookline and the Brighton neighborhood of Boston on the east.

From Watertown to Waltham to Needham to Dedham, Newton is bounded by the Charles River. Yankee Division Highway, designated Interstate 95 but known to the locals as Route 128, follows the Charles from Waltham to Dedham, creating a de facto land barrier. The portion of Needham which lies east of 128 and west of the Charles, known as the Needham Industrial Park has become part of a Newton commercial zone and contributes to its heavy traffic, even though the tax revenue goes to Needham.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 47.1 km² (18.2 mi²). 46.7 km² (18.0 mi²) of it is land and 0.4 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (0.82%) is water.

[edit] Villages

Newton does not have a single town center, but is rather a patchwork of 13 "villages", many boasting small "downtown" areas of their own. The 13 villages are: Auburndale, Chestnut Hill, Newton Centre, Newton Corner, Newton Highlands, Newton Lower Falls, Newton Upper Falls (both on the Charles River, and both once small industrial sites), Newtonville, Nonantum (also called The Lake), Oak Hill, Thompsonville, Waban, and West Newton. Oak Hill Park is a place within the village of Oak Hill that itself is shown as a village on some city maps. Although most of the villages have a post office, they have no legal definition and no firmly defined borders. See The Thirteen Villages of Newton.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 83,829 people, 31,201 households, and 20,499 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,793.2/km² (4,643.6/mi²). There were 32,112 housing units at an average density of 686.9/km² (1,778.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 88.07% White, 7.68% Asian, 1.97% African American, 0.07% Native American, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.71% from other races, and 1.46% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.52% of the population.

There were 31,201 households out of which 31.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.2% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.3% were non-families. 25.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.04.

In the city the population was spread out with 21.2% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 28.2% from 25 to 44, 25.2% from 45 to 64, and 15.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 86.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.7 males.

According to a 2006 estimate, the median income for a household in the city was $101,001, and the median income for a family was $121,496.[4] Males had a median income of $65,565 versus $46,885 for females. The per capita income for the city was $45,708. About 2.1% of families and 4.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.8% of those under age 18 and 5.0% of those age 65 or over.

Based on statistics reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Newton was the nation's safest city during 2003, 2004 and 2005,^[2] and the fourth safest city in the nation in 2006.^[3] The designation is based on crime statistics in six categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and auto theft.

[edit] Government

[edit] City

Newton has an elected strong mayor-council form of government. The council is called the Board of Aldermen. The elected officials are:

• Mayor: David B. Cohen, who is the city's chief executive officer and appoints the Chief Administrative Officer, who is Sanford M. Pooler.
• The Board of Aldermen, Newton's legislative branch of municipal government, is made up of 24 members - sixteen at-large Aldermen and eight Ward Aldermen. Aldermen are elected every two years.

Note: The first listed person in each ward is the ward alderman, while the other two are elected at large.

• • Ward One: Scott F. Lennon, Carleton P. Merrill and Ben Weisbuch;
  • Ward Two: Stephen M. Linsky, Marcia T. Johnson and Susan Albright;
  • Ward Three: Anthony Salvucci, Ted Hess-Mahan and Leslie Burg;
  • Ward Four: Jay Harney, Leonard J. Gentile and Amy Mah Sangiolo;
  • Ward Five: Bill Brandel, Brian E. Yates and Paul Edward Coletti;
  • Ward Six: George E. Mansfield, Kenneth R.L. Parker and Victoria L. Danberg;
  • Ward Seven: R. Lisle Baker, Sydra Schnipper and Verne Vance; and
  • Ward Eight: Cheryl Lappin, Mitchell L. Fischman and Richard Lipof.

[edit] County

Mismanagement of Middlesex County's public hospital in the mid 1990s left the county on the brink of insolvency, and in 1997 the Massachusetts legislature stepped in by assuming all assets and obligations of the county. The government of Middlesex County was officially abolished on July 11, 1997. The sheriff and some other regional officials with specific duties are still elected locally to perform duties within the county region, but there is no county council or commission. However, communities are now granted the right to form their own regional compacts for sharing services.

These are the remaining elected officers for Middlesex County:

• Clerk of Courts: Michael A. Sullivan
• County Treasurer: Position Eliminated
• District Attorney: Gerard T. Leone, Jr.
• Registrar of Deeds: Richard P. Howe, Jr. (North at Lowell), Eugene C. Brune (South at Cambridge)
• Registrar of Probate: ?
• County Sheriff: James DiPaola

[edit] State

House of Representatives:

• Kay Khan, Democrat of Newton: Eleventh Middlesex District, which covers Precincts 2 and 3 of ward 1, precincts 1, 2 and 3 of ward 2, precincts 1, 2 and 3 of ward 3, Ward 4, precinct 4 of ward 5, and precinct 2 of ward 7, of Newton; and
• Ruth B. Balser, Democrat of Newton: Twelfth Middlesex District, which covers Precincts 1, 2 and 3 of ward 5, Ward 6, precincts 1, 3 and 4 of ward 7, and Ward 8, of Newton.

Senate:

• Cynthia Stone Creem, Democrat of Newton, 1st Middlesex District and Norfolk, since1998.

[edit] National

Congress

• House of Representatives: Massachusetts's 4th congressional district: Barney Frank, Democrat, of Newton, 1981 to present
• Senate: Ted Kennedy and John F. Kerry, both Democrats

[edit] Education

[edit] Preschools

• Beth-El Pre-School, 561 Ward St
• Cabot School [5], 229 Cabot St, Newtonville
• The Teddy Bear Club Preschool, 1466 Commonwealth Ave, West Newton. A bilingual nursery school which offers an international atmosphere, with French culture and a diverse student population.
• JCC Early Learning Centers [6], 333 Nahanton St. & 125 Wells Ave.
• The Children's Cooperative Nursery School, 848 Beacon St.
• Temple Shalom Nursery School, 175 Temple St
• Walnut PK Montessori School [7], 47 Walnut Park
• Auburndale Community Nursery School, 230 Central St
• Rockwell Nursery School at Lasell College [8], 70 Studio Road
• Newton Community Service Center, 492 Waltham Street

[edit] Primary and secondary education

• Public: Newton Public Schools
  • Newton North High School and Newton South High School are the two public high schools in Newton. Newton North is the larger of the two.
  • Charles E. Brown Middle School and Oak Hill Middle School graduates go on to Newton South while Frank A. Day Middle School and Bigelow Middle School graduates go on to Newton North.

• Private
  • Fessenden School [9], A K-9 day and 5-9 boarding school for boys in West Newton
  • Newton Country Day School [10], 785 Centre St
  • Trinity Catholic High School, 575 Washington Street. See also: Trinity Catholic High School Website
  • The Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Boston [11], A K-8 Conservative Jewish dayschool
  • The Newton Montessori School 80 Crescent Ave.

[edit] Higher education

Colleges and universities located in Newton include:

• Andover Newton Theological School, 210 Herrick Rd, Newton Centre
• Boston College 140 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill (The Upper and Middle campuses are in Newton, while the Lower campus is in Boston).
• Boston College Law School, Centre Street, Newton Corner.
• Hebrew College, 160 Herrick Rd, Newton Centre
• Mount Ida College, 777 Dedham St, Newton Centre
• Lasell College, 1844 Commonwealth Avenue, Auburndale

[edit] Former colleges

Newton Junior College, operated by the Newton Public Schools, opened in 1946 to serve the needs of returning veterans who otherwise would not have been able to continue their education due to the overcrowding of colleges and universities at that time. It used the facilities of Newton High School (now Newton North High School) until its own adjacent campus was built. It closed in 1976 due to declining enrollment and increased costs.^[4] The availability of such places as UMass Boston contributed to its demise. According to the city, its former campus is now "Washington Park," a 25 unit multi-family development.

Other former colleges include Aquinas College, Newton (1961-1999), Mount Alvernia College (1959-1973) and Newton College of the Sacred Heart (1946-1975).^[4]

[edit] Media

[edit] Newspapers

Residents of Newton get The Newton Tab, the city's community newspaper, delivered to them for free.

[edit] Television

Residents of Newton have free access to a state-of-the-art television production and media access center, NewTV, now located in new facilities in the University Business Center in Newton Highlands.

[edit] Transportation

Newton is best known as a bedroom community for commuters to Boston, in spite of considerable commercial and manufacturing activity of its own.

It is well-served by three modes of mass transit run by the MBTA; light rail, commuter rail, and bus service. The Green Line "D" Branch, (also known as the Riverside branch) is a light rail line running through the center of the city which makes very frequent trips to downtown Boston, ranging from 10 to 30 minutes away. The Green Line "B" Branch ends close to Boston College on Commonwealth Avenue. The commuter rail, serving the northern villages of Newton that are proximate to Waltham, offers less frequent service to Boston. It runs from every half-an-hour during peak times to every couple of hours otherwise. The northern villages are also served by frequent express buses that head to downtown Boston via the Massachusetts Turnpike.

Newton Centre, which is centered around the Newton Center MBTA Station has been lauded as an example of transit-oriented development. See Newton Centre - A Case Study.

The Massachusetts Turnpike (Interstate 90), which basically follows the old Boston and Albany Railroad main line right-of-way, runs east and west through Newton, while Route 128 (Interstate 95) slices through the extreme western part of the city in the Lower Falls area. Route 30 (Commonwealth Avenue), route 16 (Watertown Street west to West Newton, where it follows Washington Street west) and route 9 (Worcester Turnpike or Boylston Street) also run east and west through the city. Another major Boston (and Brookline) street, Beacon Street, runs west from the Boston city line to Washington Street west of the hospital, where it effectively terminates. The only major north-south road route through Newton is Centre Street, which runs south from the Watertown town line to Newton Highlands, where it bears right to become Needham Street, which runs south to the Charles River and into Needham.^[5]

[edit] Points of interest

• The Jackson Homestead, now the Newton History Museum at the Jackson Homestead, is best known for its history as a stop on the Underground Railroad. It was built in 1809 as a farmhouse designed in the Federal style, and is now a museum with paintings, costumes, photographs, manuscripts, maps and historical artifacts.

• Echo Bridge is a notable 19th-century masonry arch bridge with views of the river and Hemlock Gorge in Newton Upper Falls just off Route 9.

• Newton is home to many exclusive golf courses such as Woodland Country Club, Charles River Country Club, and Brae Burn Country Club, which held the United States Open in 1919.

• Norumbega Park was located in the Auburndale section of Newton on the Charles River. Opening in 1897 as a trolley park, it was a popular amusement park through the 1950s before closing in 1963. Its Totem Pole Ballroom became a well-known dancing and entertainment venue for big bands touring during the 1940s. The park is now a popular dog-walking site with hills, meadows, woods, and access to the river.

[edit] Cemeteries

There are several cemeteries in Newton, three of which are owned by the City of Newton while the rest are privately owned.^[6], as follows:

• East Parish Burying Ground, called Centre Street Cemetery by the city, dates from 1664;
• Newton Cemetery, 791 Walnut Street, Newton Centre, , private, 155 acres, dates from 1855
• West Parish Burying Ground, (River Street Cemetery), West Newton public.
• St. Mary's Episcopal Church and Cemetery, 258 Concord Avenue, Newton Lower Falls, private
• South Burying Ground called Winchester Street Cemetery or Evergreen Cemetery by the city, public

[edit] Notable grave sites

• East Parish Burying Ground
  • William Jackson, politician, U.S. congressman

• Newton Cemetery
  • William Emerson Barrett. politician, U.S. congressman
  • William Claflin, politician Massachusetts governor and U.S. congressman
  • Louis K. Liggett, drug store magnate
  • Samuel Leland Powers, politician, U. S. Congressman
  • Alexander Hamilton Rice, politician, Massachusetts governor, U.S. congressman and Boston mayor.
  • Morrie Schwartz, educator, Brandeis philosophy professor
  • Samuel Francis Smith, Baptist minister, author of "My Country, 'Tis of Thee"
  • Francis Edgar Stanley, auto maker (the Stanley Steamer)

• St. Mary's Episcopal Church and Cemetery
  • Josiah Gardner Abbott, politician, judge, U.S. congressman^[7]
  • Lewis Golding Arnold, 1817-1871, Civil War general.^[8]

[edit] Notable residents

Main article: People from Newton, Massachusetts

[edit] Trivia

• The Fig Newton cookie is named after the city. In 1991, Newton and Nabisco hosted a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Fig Newton. A 100-inch Fig Newton was served and Juice Newton performed.^[9]
• The only Melkite Greek Catholic eparchy in America, the Eparchy of Newton, is named for Newton although its cathedral, headquarters and exarchial residence are located in the Roslindale section of Boston.
• In Sacha Baron Cohen's movie Borat, a scene in which Borat and Azamat panicked in a bed and breakfast owned by a Jewish couple actually took place in Newton, instead of in the southern states as depicted in the story.

[edit] See also

• List of Registered Historic Places in Newton, Massachusetts
• Reginald A. Fessenden House, which is the only National Historic Landmark located in Newton.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• City of Newton official website
• Newton Cemetery
• Newton Citizens (general info)
• Newton/Needham Chamber of Commerce
• Newton Tab (Newspaper)
• Newton Symphony Orchestra (established 1965)

Coordinates: 42.337713° N 71.209936° W

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