Newton, MA

Newton traces its origins to 1630, when settlers from nearby Cambridge began farming the fertile lands along the Charles River. Over time a series of small village centers developed across the landscape, each serving the surrounding farms and mills. By the nineteenth century, improved transportation and rail connections transformed Newton into an attractive residential community for those working in Boston. In 1873 the town adopted a city form of government, becoming the City of Newton. Known as the “Garden City,” Newton still reflects its early pattern of village neighborhoods that grew from those original seventeenth-century settlements.