Hyde Avenue Historic District
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Why it's listed
Hyde Avenue in Newton Corner is a small residential district of five houses on ample lots with ornamental gardens and specimen trees, built between 1880 and the 1890s. The group includes a Queen Anne house at 36 Hyde Avenue from 1880, an unusual Shingle Style house at 42 Hyde Avenue from 1885, another Queen Anne house at 52, and Colonial Revival houses at 59 and 62. The land was once part of the Hyde Estate, a 43-acre farm and nursery owned by a family that had lived in Newton Corner since the 17th century. By the 1880s the village had about 4,000 residents and was regarded as a prestigious Boston suburb, helped by streetcar and commuter rail links. George Hyde, who died in 1892, began parcelling off the estate in that decade, and the lots sold quickly. The district was listed for its cohesive scale, setback and residential use, and for showing stylistic variety within a single decade of development.
Significance in brief: The district is argued to meet Criterion C as a cohesive cluster of late nineteenth-century houses showing the styles most common in Newton Corner during its last major phase of growth. It also reflects the subdivision of the Hyde Estate, a former farm and nursery, into suburban house lots in the 1880s.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 86001742, listed December 23, 1986. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 36, 42, 52, 59, and 62 Hyde Ave., Newton |
|---|---|
| County | Middlesex County |
| Listed | December 23, 1986 |
| Reference number | 86001742 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1880-1893 |
| Architectural style | Queen Anne, Shingle Style and Colonial Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | State, Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Present use is residential and general condition is stated as excellent. |
| Acreage | 3.8 |
| Coordinates | 42.34836, -71.18565 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 86001742.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5953510
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.