{"nrhp_refnum":"90000049","name":"Second Church of Newton","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"60 Highland St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Newton","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.34735881600005,"lon":-71.22579413099999,"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 Gothic Revival stone church at 60 Highland Street in West Newton, Newton, Massachusetts, built 1915-1916 to designs by the Boston firm Allen & Collens.","why_significant":"The church is significant as Newton's second church, tied to the city's early history, and as an important example of Gothic Revival ecclesiastical architecture by the nationally noted firm Allen & Collens. The form states it retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association.","narrative":"Second Church of Newton is a Gothic Revival church on a hilltop site at 60 Highland Street in West Newton, overlooking the village center. Built in 1915-1916, it was designed by the Boston firm Allen & Collens, known for Gothic Revival work, with English Gothicist Henry Vaughn as consultant. The massive building is faced in uncoursed gray stone with a molded limestone watertable. Its narrow buttressed facade has a recessed pointed-arch entry, a large stained-glass window with tracery, gargoyles and pinnacles. A tower with a belfry and a steeple with carved crockets rises at the rear of the north side. A half-timbered educational wing was added in 1938. The congregation traces its first meeting house to 1764, and the cornerstone of this building was laid on June 6, 1915, with dedication on September 27, 1916. Architect Charles Collens lived in Newton and his firm also designed Newton City Hall and the War Memorial. The church is still in use and in excellent condition.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Allen & Collens (educational wing added 1938 by Allen, Collens & Willis); Henry Vaughn, consultant","architectural_style":"Gothic Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Present use is as a church; condition is listed as excellent.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:03.686308-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/84/7916/63791684/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/90000049.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000049/4861830a2f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000049/4861830a2f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Second_Church_in_Newton,_West_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:Second_Church_in_Newton,_West_Newton_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791684","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Church_in_Newton","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14715845"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/second-church-of-newton-90000049/"}