BlockThe nomination, in full
Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.
- FORM B - BUILDING MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION 80 BOYLSTON STREET BOSTON, MA 02116 Photo (3"x3" or 3"x5, black and white) Indicate address of property on back of photo. Staple to left side of form. Sketch Map: Draw map showing property's location in relation to nearest cross streets and/or geographical features. Indicate all bufldings between inventoried property and nearest intersection(s). Indicate north (SEE ATTACHED MAP) UTM REFERENCE 19.317120.4690760 USGS QUADRANGLE NEWTON, MA SCALE 1:25,000 AREA FORM NO. 3042 Newton, Mass. MRA Town NEWTON (West Newton) Address 1121 Washington Street Historic Name Newton Street Railway Carbarn Use: Present Store Original St. Railway Carbarn DESCRIPTION Date 1890 Source Water Dept.
Records Style Industrial Architect unknown Exterior Wall Fabric_ Wood shingles Outbuf1dings none Major Alterations (with dates) addition, 1895; storefront 1980s Condition Good Moved no Date Acreage 30,600 sq.ft.(lessthan | acre) Setting _ faces busy highway (Washingtr St.) and railroad corridor Recorded by Kathlyn Hatch; Peter Stott Organization Newton Historical Comm. Date January 1978; April 1986 !. NATIONAL REGISTER CRITERIA STATEMENT (if applicable) The Newton Street Railway Carbarn is a rare surviving example of a wood-frame carbarn, a once common facility visible in many communities around Boston. Its construction date coincides with the introduction of electric motive power in 1889, an event which had a significant impact both on the transportation habits of Newton residents and in the pattern of suburban settlement.
As the sole surviving evidence of the street railway in Newton, and one of very few carbarns in the Boston area, the Newton Street Railway Carbarn meets criteria A and C of the National Register of Historic Places. ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE Describe important architectural features and evaluate in terms of other buildings within the community. The Newton Street Railway Carbarn, built in 1890, consists of a long, two-story central block with single-story side wings. The wood-frame structure was originally shingled, and the side elevations still show this sheathing material. Although the building's overall form and side elevations remain intact, the street facade has been altered. A front gable, balustrades at the roofline in the wings, patterned shingling, and the high trolley entrances have been removed.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE Explain the role owners played in local or state history and how the building relates to the development of the community. The Newton Street Railway Company, chartered June 29, 1886, was the original core of the Middlesex & Boston Street Railway Company, which by the 1920s, from its Newtonville office, controlled a 120-mile network of lines in Middlesex County. Soon after its incorporation, the company took over two lines through West Newton: River Street to Waltham (1868) and the Newton Corner-West Newton Route along Washington Street (1880). In 1889, the company changed its motive power from horsedrawn cars to electric power. The existing carbarn was completed in 1890 and expanded five years later. By 1891, the company operated 5.48 miles of single track with 17 cars. President of the new company was George W. Morse (1845-1905) of Newtonville.
A senior partner in the Boston law firm of Morse, Hickey & Kenny, Morse specialized in street railway matters and was instrumental in organizing several of the street railways operated west and northwest of Newtonville's James L. Richards (1858-1955), (who had recently constructed his own house at 47 Kirkstall Rd. [#5686]), succeeded Morse president. The line's first superintendent was Francis G. L. Henderson (1850-1931) of West Newton. Under Henderson's superintendency, the original company expanded its territory, absorbing the Newton & Boston (the BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES "George W. Morse," Newton Journal 14 April 1905, p. 5. "Francis G.L. Henderson," Newton Graphic 30 October 1931. H.V. & H.W. Poor, Poor's Manual of Railroads (1891), p. 1183. Bird's Eye View of West Newton (1890). Photograph, Archives of the Jackson Homestead. John Brimblecom, ed., Beautiful Newton (c.1917).
8/85 INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Office of the Secretary, Boston 1ofl Commmity : Form No: Newton, Mass. MRA 3042 Property Name: 1121 Washington St. Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE, cont. railway which ran between Needham and Union Square, Allston); the Commonwealth Avenue Street Railway; the Wellesley & Boston; the Lexington & Boston; and the Natick & Cochituate. The Middlesex & Boston was formed about 1904, and Henderson became the new company's purchasing agent, a post he retained until his death in 1931. Despite the large number barns constructed in the Boston area between 1890 and 1920, this is one of the very few to survive in anything its original form.
In particular, it marks the company's expanding service area, made possible by electrification, first introduced in the country on a wide scale when the West End Street Railway electrified its line from Allston to Park Square, Boston in 1889. By 1900 the company's street cars were visible in every village in Newton except Oak Hill. Staple to Inventory form at bottom NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number OMB No. 1024-0018 Exp. 10-31-84 For NPS use only recelved 7/23/86 date entered Page Multiple Resource Area Thematic Group Name State Newton MRA Middlesex County, MA Nomination/Type of Review 91. Needham Street Bridge 92. Newton Street Railway Carbarn 93. Nichols House 94. Old Shepard Farm 95. Page, H.P., House 96. Parsons, Edward, House 97.
Peabody--Williams House 98. Potter Estate 99. Prescott Estate 100. Railroad Hotel Intered in the -Nattonai kegister Date/Signature froper dilauyan glt Attest fKeeper dilaueByen stl6d Entered in . tlie Zattonal k9gisten Ihtered in the Natlonal Register Attest Intered In the National Reg1süor fKeeper Attest fiteeper Attest delauesBge9la Delm Byansttte Entered in the Maricnal Register Keeper AeloueByan 91414 Errics in the Register Attest fKeeper selmußzen ste 3819t9z Attest feeper Deluaßzer 34686 Attest Ertored in the Natonai Regieter Keeper AuluerByen 19/231 Attest Entered in the National Register JKeeper Delorr/Ayan 914/86 Attest Interad in tho Nationn?
Regieter fokeeper AelouBgen 9/4/56 Attest 86001855 WASO Form - 177 ("R" June 1984) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET Newton Street Railway Carbarn (Newton MRA), Middlesex County MASSACHUSETTS resubmission nomination by person or local government owner objection appeal Substantive Review: Reviewer's comments: sample Jrequest Working No. Fed. Reg. Date: Date Due: Action: UL 231986 2/3/31 21/86- ACCEPT Intered in the 3-4/-8 __RETURN Matlone] Eegister REJECT. Federal Agency: - Lappeal NR decision Recom./Criteria _ Reviewer Discipline Date _ see continuation sheet Nomination returned for: . technical corrections cited below _ substantive reasons discussed below 1. Name 2. Location 3. Classification Category Ownership Public Acquisition 4. Owner of Property 5. Location of Legal Description 6.
Representation in Existing Surveys Has this property been determined eligible? yes no 7. Description Condition Jexcellent good fair deteriorated ruins unexposed Check one unaltered altered Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance summary paragraph completeness clarity alterations/integrity dates boundary selection Status Accessible Present Use Check one original site moved date 8. Significance Period Areas of Significance-Check and justify below Specific dates Builder/Architect Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) J summary paragraph completeness clarity applicable criteria justification of areas checked relating significance to the resource context relationship of integrity to significance J justification of exception other 9. Major Bibliographical References 10.
Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property Quadrangle name UTM References Verbal boundary description and justification 11. Form Prepared By 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: national state _local State Historic Preservation Officer signature date title 13. Other Maps Photographs Other Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to - Signed - Date.
Phone:- GPO 918-450 Comments for any item may be continued on an attached sheet Missing Core Documentation Property Name County, State Newton Street Railway Carbarn Middlesex County, Massachusetts Multiple Property Reference Number Name Newton MRA 86001855 The following Core Documentation is missing from this entry: Nomination Form X Photographs USGS Map CHEES 23 20 35 ARMORY STREET 33 32 32 281 27 SECTION 31 BLOCK 7 27 22 GERARD COURT ,SECTYON BLOCK SECTION 31 BLOCK 8 5 31 35 SECTION 31 BLOCK 7 36 KEMPTON PL. 29 STREET WASHINGTON 10762 RAILROAD MASS. TURNPIKE EXTENSION an Clty of Newton Assessor's Maps. Sheets 29, 42 Metric Seríes. 1979 Scale: UTM grid líne interval = 100 meters (328 Newton, Mass. MRA 121 Washington St., West Newto Newton St. Rwy. Carbarn 31-8-5 -