The Newton Theological Institution Historic District is an

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

in the village of Newton Centre in

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...

. It encompasses not only the campus of the Newton Theological Institution, now known as the

Andover Newton Theological School Andover Newton Theological School (ANTS) was a graduate school and seminary in Newton, Massachusetts. Affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA and the United Church of Christ. It was the product of a merger between Andover Theological ...

, but also a cluster of fashionable 19th century houses north of the campus, on Herrick Road and Chase and Cypress Streets. The school was the first outside educational institution in Newton. The district was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1986. The Andover Newton Theological School, the nation's oldest interdenominational religious seminary, was founded in 1931 by the merger of two other religious schools: the Newton Theological School, founded in 1825 as the nation's first Baptist seminary, and the Andover Theological Seminary, a Congregational seminary founded in 1807. The property in Newton Centre was purchased in the 1820s by the Baptists, who built the school's oldest surviving building, Farwell Hall, in 1828. Originally Federal in style, it was raised with a mansard roof in 1857. Colby Hall, separately listed on the National Register, was builtin 1866 to accommodate a growing student population. Sturtevant Hall (1873) was followed by Burgess Gymnasium (c. 1880) and Hills Library (1895) before the school merger took place. Just north of the campus is a small residential area with high-quality mid-to-late 19th century houses, some that have association with the school. The house at 70 Chase Street is probably Newton's finest example of Second Empire styling; it was built for John Sanborn, a Boston merchant and politician. The 1906 Colonial Revival house at 120 Herrick Street may have been built by the school to house visiting teachers. 102 Herrick Street, a Queen Anne/Stick style house built c. 1883 was home to a clergyman.

Gallery

File:Colby Hall, Newton Centre MA.jpg, Colby Hall File:Colby Chapel, Andover Newton Theological School - IMG 0339.JPG, Colby Chapel File:Franklin Trask Library, Andover Newton Theological School - IMG 0334.JPG, Franklin Trask Library

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Newton, Massachusetts Italianate architecture in Massachusetts Queen Anne architecture in Massachusetts Colonial Revival architecture in Massachusetts Historic districts in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts

Gallery

See also

References