Second Church of Newton
About this property
The Second Church in Newton, United Church of Christ, is located at 60 Highland Street in West Newton, a village of Newton, Massachusetts. This church is rooted in the Congregational denomination, welcomes all visitors, and does not require uniformity of belief. Its present church building, a Gothic Victorian structure designed by architects Allen & Collens and completed in 1916, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places (as "Second Church of Newton") in 1990. The current building is the third home for this congregation. West Parish of Newton was organized in 1764 and formally recognized in 1778. At that time it was Newton's second parish. As the congregation grew, a meeting house was built on Washington Street in 1848, when the first structure was adapted for use as town hall as part of the town government's move to West Newton. By the start of the 20th century, the congregation was outgrowing its Washington Street home. Planning to build a new structure began in 1908. The land was purchased in 1913 and the cornerstone laid in 1914, the 150th anniversary of the congregation. The building was designed by the noted ecclesiastical architects Allen & Collens, a leading firm with offices in Boston and New York, with Charles Collens having the principal role for the design. The firm was noted for its Gothic Revival design work including the Cloisters Museum in New York. The location of the Second Church in Newton is on the east side of Highland Street, just south of the Massachusetts Turnpike and the West Newton Village Center Historic District at the rise of West Newton Hill, making the spire visible from all directions. The parcel it occupies is bounded on the north by the highway and on the east by Chestnut Street; both Chestnut and Highland are collector roads leading through the residential area of West Newton Hill. The church sanctuary is an elaborate example of Gothic Revival architecture executed in stone. The adjoining Parish House, begun in 1915 and extended and completed in 1938, has stucco walls and Tudor Revival features. All parts of the building are remarkably intact with minimal alterations. The main façade, facing west toward Highland Street, is narrow, with a buttressed projecting section housing the main entrance in a recessed arch, with a large stained-glass window above. The side walls are also buttressed, with pointed-arch windows in each of four bays. The prominent spire at the north east corner reaches to 196 feet with decorative finials in limestone. It is topped by two figures, a young man facing east toward the sunrise and an old man facing west towards the sunset. The spire is an immediately recognizable landmark for West Newton, visible to travelers on the Massachusetts Turnpike and the Commuter Rail. The bell in the tower was brought from the previous building and still operates. It was cast at the George Handel Holbrook Foundry in Medway in 1848.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was Second Church of Newton listed on the National Register?
Second Church of Newton was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 16, 1990.
What type of historic resource is Second Church of Newton?
Second Church of Newton is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Second Church of Newton?
The period of significance for Second Church of Newton is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Second Church of Newton?
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