Putnam Street Historic District

This residential district on the north slope of West Newton Hill, overlooking the village center, contains twenty properties on Putnam, Winthrop, Shaw and Temple Streets. Most of the land was laid out for house lots in 1866 by the West Newton Land Company, which oriented the development toward a public park. Nearly three-quarters of the buildings went up between 1865 and 1885 in the Mansard, Stick or Queen Anne styles, giving the area an unusually consistent character. Winthrop Street has six Mansard houses from 1866 to 1872, including a former church parsonage. Putnam Street's larger houses include two Stick Style homes from 1877 and the 1885 Howard House, the district's best Queen Anne example. The oldest building is a Gothic cottage at 34 Temple Street, dating from about 1849. Early residents included bankers, merchants and a prominent local building contractor. Two later buildings do not contribute, but most houses remain well preserved and the neighborhood keeps its 19th-century feel as a commuter suburb.