{"nrhp_refnum":"90000012","name":"Commonwealth Avenue Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly Commonwealth Ave. from Walnut St. to Waban Hill Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Newton","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.35134650000006,"lon":-71.08012109993902,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-02-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district made up of the eastern half of Commonwealth Avenue in Newton, Massachusetts, from Boston College to Walnut Street. It covers about 188 properties on a boulevard opened in 1895, plus parts of Rice Street and Waban Hill Road.","why_significant":"The boulevard strongly influenced the development of central Newton by opening previously remote areas to easy access. It is also a picturesque, curving boulevard lined with well-detailed turn-of-the-century and early 20th-century houses, mostly single-family homes rather than apartment blocks.","narrative":"Commonwealth Avenue in Newton, Massachusetts, is a broad, curving boulevard laid out in the 1890s with a center strip first used for a double-track electric railroad. The historic district covers its eastern half, from Boston College to Walnut Street, and includes 188 properties. Landowners known as the Newton Boulevard Syndicate helped secure the route, and the road opened on October 11, 1895. It gave central Newton its first major east-west connection and opened sparsely settled land to development. Residents' dislike of apartment blocks led to substantial single-family houses, most built between the 1890s and 1920s. Colonial Revival houses, often in brick, set the dominant tone. Classical Revival, Shingle, Queen Anne, Craftsman, Tudor and Spanish Colonial examples add variety. Architect Harry Morton Ramsay designed the largest number of houses along the avenue. A few small commercial blocks near Centre Street date from 1914 to 1922. Little has been built since the mid-twentieth century.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Albert Noyes (Newton City Engineer, final boulevard plans); Harry Morton Ramsay, James Purdon, John Barnard, Coolidge and Carlson, Edward B. Stratton, Thomas Byrd Epps and others for individual buildings","architectural_style":"Colonial Revival predominates, with Classical Revival, Queen Anne, Shingle Style, Craftsman, Tudor Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival examples","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"General condition is stated as good. Present use is residential and commercial, with a small commercial area near Centre Street.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:03.614721-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/95/7918/63791895/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/90000012.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000012/ad0afd2978-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000012/ad0afd2978-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Corner_of_Commonwealth_Ave_and_Hammond_St,_Newton_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Corner_of_Commonwealth_Ave_and_Hammond_St,_Newton_MA.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"73001948","name":"Back Bay Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/back-bay-historic-district-73001948/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791895","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Avenue_Historic_District_(Newton,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5153691"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/commonwealth-avenue-historic-district-90000012/"}