Upper Falls

Saint Elizabeth’s Center // 1838

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The only two-story temple-front Greek Revival home in the Upper Falls Village of Newton, MA stands on Elliot Street, on the same block as the Mary Immaculate of Lourdes Catholic Church and Rectory. The home was built in 1838 at the present location of the church, but was moved in 1908 to its present location at the opposite end of the block for the erection of the large church. The original owner was Dr. Samuel Whitney, the village doctor who also operated his office out of the large house. By 1844, he moved to Dedham and sold the home and practice to Dr. Abraham D. Dearborn who ran his practice out of the home until the mid 1850s. After successive ownership by mill owners, the property was acquired by the Archdiocese of Boston who moved the home and used it as a rectory until the Colonial Revival rectory was built. The home has since been used as a parish center, but has not been well maintained over the years. Plans were unveiled in 2015 by a long-time resident to purchase the home from the Catholic Church for conversion of a community center with offices for non-profits, but it has not materialized sadly. Its future is unclear.

Mary Immaculate of Lourdes Church Rectory // 1938

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Located adjacent to the Mary Immaculate of Lourdes Roman Catholic Church in Upper Falls, this rectory building, built in 1938 adds much to the streetscape. Although the building permit for this building was issued
in 1938, it was not occupied until 1943, according to City Directories. The building was designed by architect Timothy G. O’Connell of Boston, who specialized in ecclesiastical design. The 3 1/2-story gambrel Colonial Revival building has a center entrance with projecting balustraded porch with turned balusters and urn finials.

Pettee Caretaker’s Cottage // c.1840

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One of the rare early stone cottages in Newton, this charming building in Upper Falls Village has an interesting history! The stone cottage was built around 1840 by Otis Pettee (1795-1853), a major mill owner in town. This cottage specifically served as a shop and later as the residence of the caretaker of the silk mill a couple blocks away. Pettee likely had this building and the adjacent barn constructed with stone to limit the chance of a fire, destroying any valuable silk inside.

Ralph Waldo Emerson School // 1904

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One of the few architect designed buildings in Upper Falls Village in Newton is the Ralph Waldo Emerson School built in 1904-1905. The village school in Upper Falls consistently was outgrown by the rapidly growing population in the 19th century, leading to new schools being built every couple decades. The 1846 Village School (featured previously) was outgrown and a major landowner, Otis Pettee willed a valuable piece of land to the town for the erection of a new school and firehouse, both were built that next year. By 1869, a second schoolhouse was built on the site in the fashionable Second Empire style, named the Wade School. As expected, the two adjacent school buildings were deemed obsolete and the town, inflated by the industrial wealth of Upper Falls, hired the architectural firm of Hartwell, Richardson & Driver to design a large brick schoolhouse, with a cost of $92,000. The building was occupied as a school until the 1990s until (you guessed it) the schools in the town consolidated, and the Emerson School was then converted to residential units.

Upper Falls Village School // 1846

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The Upper Falls Village in Newton, MA is a small industrial neighborhood which grew after the Revolutionary War due to its location on the Charles River where rapids and falls occur. Mills and factories were built in the village and thus, workers from other towns and even Europe moved here to work in the dozen manufacturing facilities. By 1850, the village had 1,500 residents, a quarter of those living in the town of Newton at the time, in a much denser area. With workers and families moving here, the need for a school was paramount. As the Upper Falls Village continued to grow, schools were built and demolished for newer and larger structures to house the growing population. In 1846, this two-story schoolhouse was constructed in the then popular Greek Revival style. The schoolhouse was quickly deemed inadequate and was sold when a new school closer to the center of the village was built in 1855. This building was then converted to commercial use, serving as a grocery and dry goods store and later a watchmaking shop, with the storefront added at the time.