Commonwealth Avenue Historic District

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.