Photographs from the nomination case file, National Park Service records.
Colby Hall
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in
1978. A historic map-sheet match is not published yet. The record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary.
From the record
“In the period extending from 1838 to 1845, the question of the division of the town into two independent organizations was warmly contested. Owing to the peculiar configuration of Newton, and the dispo^ of most of its villages at that period nearly on the circumference, because of the water privileges on Charles lUver on the one hand, and the conveniences created by railway stations along the line of the Boston and Albany Railroad on the other, many favored a division.”
History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts (1880). Machine-read text.
one of 1100 National Register listings in Middlesex County · listed in 1978 · category: Building · one of 3 National Historic Landmarks in Middlesex County.
National Register reference number.78000459- the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
What happened here
An account from the chapter on Newton city, The inset identifies its exact
source book and publication year.
JbIj^ 1700, M. 63. Capt. Noab, of Newton, an Officer in the Expedition against Canada. Killed in battle with the Freoch and Indians July C, 1C90. M. 50, leaving t son Thomas. Ebeneser, oC Newton, died June 21, 1691. .fi. 45. ... . . J. B. Jepson, Newton Comer, rereals many gravestones whose inscriptions are no longer l^ble, and others, recalling the names which filled a laige place in the early history of the town, and Belonged to the founders of its institutions and the authors of its prosperity.
From the beginning, Newton manifested an honorable patriotic and military spirit, and some of the citizens distinguished themselves by acts of marked bravery. A large number of tlie earlier inhabitants bore military titles. In a genealogical register of the town reaching down to the beginning of the present century, - the period of a meagre population and a very slow growtli, - we find two generals, nine colonels, three majors, forty-one captains, twenty-one lieutenants, and eight ensigns. From 1799 till \vithin a few years, a powder-house, erected by the town, stood near the site of one of the ancient " noon-houses," at the junction of Lyman and Centre streets, Newton Centre. Newton men showed much bravery in the early conflicts with the Indians, and some of them were among the martyrs who fell in those fearful struggles. John Druce, son of Vincent Druce, belonged to Captain Prentice's troop of cavalry, which rendered important service in Philip's War in 1675. Captain Prentice did much to check the progress of King Philip's troops, and by his bold and rapid marclies drove the enemy before him wherever he went. He was a man of great courage. His keen eye detected every movement of the savage foe, and his fearless band of troopers were ever readv to accompany him into the tliickest of the fight. He died at the age of eighty-nine years, and was buried under arms by his old comrades. He had been an officer in the company of troopers about twenty years at the commencement of King Philip's War, and in 1691 the Indians sent a petition to the General Court that he might be appointed their ruler. His house, at the junction of Waverly Avenue and Ward Street, is said to have been built by Captain John Clark. Edward Jackson, son of Deacon John Jackson, was killed in an attack by Indians on the town of Medfield, February 21, 1676.
At the opening of the war, April 19, 1775, Newton numbered three companies, the east and west companies and the minute-men, - a total of two hundred and eighteen men. Jeremiah Wiswall commanded the east company, Amariah Fuller the , west, and Phineas Cook the minute-men. Besides these, many Newton men who had passed the age for military service, inspired by patriotism, were eager to renew their youth and participate in the excitement and the glory of the conflict. Noah Wiswall, a man seventy-six years of age, who, like his ancestors, occu2ned the house at the northeasterly side of the pond at Newton Centre, now in possession of the heirs of Deacon Luther Paul, went to Lexington on the 19th of April, 1775, because, as he said, " he wanted to see what the boys were doing." As he was pointing out to his companions three British soldiers on the field of strife, a ball whizzed through his hand, inflicting a painful wound. Undaunted, he coolly took out his handkerchief and bound up the wounded member, and then picking up the musket of a fallen regular bore it home with him as a trophy.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 101 fires within 5 miles of Colby Hall between
2003 and 2020, burning about 381 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson.
Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted
here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
Reported cause
Fires
Recreation and ceremony
54
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
32
Smoking
7
Debris and open burning
4
Other causes
1
Equipment and vehicle use
1
Power generation/transmission/distribution
1
Arson/incendiarism
1
The most recent of
them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service
that recorded it.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. Museums hold 2,585 specimens
collected within 10 miles of Colby Hall between 1898 and
1975: 1,292 Animalia, 683 Plantae, 550 Fungi, 29 Protozoa, 14 Chromista, 13 Bacteria, 4 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by ?, A B Seymour, A. B. Seymour and others. Each is a
physical object with a catalogue
number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was
collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be
concluded from a species being absent.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists
7 workings within 5 miles of Colby Hall: 5 past producers, 1 unknown, 1 plant.
1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Tantalum, Niobium (Columbium). Distance is straight-line from the
map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring
settlement's page as well.
No historic map-sheet match is published
for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs
a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary.
Browse the county's mapped places while that work is
pending.
From the nomination file
2,351 words on record
When this property was proposed for the
National Register, someone wrote the case for it: what the building is,
and why it matters. That document is a federal record in the public domain.
It is quoted below word for word, never summarised. The text was read off the scanned case file by machine, so the
occasional stray character is the recogniser's and the 1970s
typewriter's.
Description of the property
112 Khuf 78 Colby Hall is located on Herrick Road in Newton near the commercial/ civic village of Newton Centre. The building and attached Chapel comprise approximately d l/3-acres of nominated property surrounded by approximately 40 acres of open land. This hilltop land is on the campus of the Andover-Newton Theological School. There is a long sloping lawn in front of the building, and landscaping around the building. A driveway encircles the Hall and the Chapel. Colby Hall was constructed in 1886 for the Newton Theological Institution, now Andover Newton Theological School, the oldest Protestant graduate theological school in the nation. The designer of this unique structure is unknown. The chapel is believed to have been built in 1866 and was dedicated in 1897.
In the intervening years it may have been used for storage, work room, meeting room, or the library before its conversion to a formal place of worship. Colby Hall is an unusual mixture of the Second Empire and Romanesque Revival styles; its shallow plan and Mansard roof with pedimented dormers are characteristic of the second empire style but architectural detailing is derived from the Romanesque style. The three story structure is of a light buff, rough cut stone with sandstone trim. The Mansard roof is covered with scalloped and rectangular shaped slate tiles, and has four stone end chimneys. Triangularly pedimented single and double window dormers occupy much of the roof space. Large modillions support the widely overhanging eaves. corners of the building are quoined.
A sandstone watertable encircles the building. A gu darly pediona nuppore wae widble onerhangd sandstone stringcourse links the sills of the first story windows. Another belt course defines the second story floor level. Fenestration is round and semi-elliptical arched and of contrasting scales.
/ARCHITECT STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Colby Hall is architecturally unique, and historically significant to both the community & to the Baptist denomination nation wide. Andover-Newton is the result of the union of Andover Theological Seminary, founded in Andover, Mass. in 1807, and the Newton Theologi- cal Institution established in Newton Centre at the Colby Hall site in 1825. is the oldest Protestent graduate theological school in America. It is dedicated to the education of men and women for the parish ministry for the Baptist Church, the United Church of Christ, and all Christians the world over. The vast majority of living graduates of this institution received their seminary eduation in Colby Hall.
The building pre-dates many structures in Newton Centre.Because of its hillside location, overlooking Newton Centre, there is a visual impact for the city residents as well as for the students, faculty, trustees and friends who come to the school regularly. Samue 1 Francis Smith wrote the words to "America" in 1832 while attending the seminary. Following his graduation and ordination, Dr. Smith served the First Baptist Church in Newton Centre for many years. A plaque marking the location of his home in the Centre was placed on that site some years ago by the Newton Centre Women's Club. The club meets regularly at Colby Hall for its business and social events.
Students, faculty, trustees and friends of the school are concerned about the restoration and maintance of the property for future use as well as for the architectural beauty and historical value represented. LEBOVICH 1i3h0
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 78000459, 15 pages, held by the National Archives in Record
Group 79. See the
catalogue record.
Listed places nearby
6 within 8 miles
Other National Register properties close
enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both
positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties
to their map sheets.
Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
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