Newton Street School

United States historic place

Location70 Shelburne Rd.,
Greenfield, Massachusetts

Coordinates42°35′08″N 72°36′50″W / 42.5855°N 72.6138°W / 42.5855; -72.6138

Built1915 (1915)


Newton School
U.S. National Register of Historic Places


Show map of Massachusetts Show map of the United States
Location	70 Shelburne Rd., Greenfield, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°35′08″N 72°36′50″W / 42.5855°N 72.6138°W / 42.5855; -72.6138
Built	1915 (1915)
Architect	William H. McLean
Architectural style	Renaissance
NRHP reference No.	88001907^[1]
Added to NRHP	October 27, 1988

The Newton School is a historic school at 70 Shelburne Road in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1915, it is one of the first graded elementary schools in western Massachusetts to feature a single-story plan and a large playground, presaging trends in those areas of school design. The school was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.^[1]

The Newton School is located west of downtown Greenfield, at the northwest corner of Shelburne Road and Massachusetts Route 2A. The U-shaped brick building features a shallow slate roof, and a brick gable over the main entrance. The corners of the building have stone insets decorated with an open book design.^[2]

The school was built in 1915, during Greenfield's greatest period of economic and population growth. It was designed by William H. McLean of Boston, an architect known for school designs. The school remained in active use until 1968, at which time it was closed and the building was leased to a community organization. It was reopened in 1988, as its surrounding residential areas had seen significant growth.^[3]

A 1915 annual town report refers to the school as Westside, a reference to the location on the west side of the Green River.^[4]

With the help of the Greenfield Recreation Department, Kaboom!, families and community members, Newton School built a new playground in October 2015 featuring playground instruments, unique to its community.

References

1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
↑ "MACRIS inventory record for Newton Street School". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
↑ "NRHP nomination for Newton Street School". National Archive. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
↑ Curtis, Chris (August 7, 2015). "Newton School turns to alumni to help it turn 100". The Greenfield Recorder. Retrieved October 17, 2015. Local historian Peter S. Miller is partially responsible for the Newton School name, having opposed an effort to change it to the Catherine Carney School in 1990 in honor of a long-time teacher. The school is named for James Newton, who owned the land and a sawmill nearby in the 1880s. Solon Street is named for his son, Solon Newton.

v t e National Register of Historic Places in Franklin County, Massachusetts
Historic districts	Alvah Stone Mill Ashfield Plain Historic District Charlemont Village Historic District Colrain Center Historic District Conway Center Historic District Deerfield Valley Agricultural Society Fairgrounds East Hawley Center Historic District East Leverett Historic District East Main-High Street Historic District Gill Center Historic District Heath Center Historic District Hill Cemetery and Parson Hubbard House Historic District Leverett Center Historic District Main Street Historic District Millers Falls Village Historic District Montague Center Historic District Moore's Corner Historic District New Salem Common Historic District North Leverett Historic District Northfield Main Street Historic District Orange Center Historic District Powers Institute Historic District Riverside Archeological District Riverside Village Historic District Shelburne Falls Historic District Sunderland Center Historic District Turners Falls Historic District Wendell Town Common Historic District West Whately Historic District Whately Center Historic District
Historic properties	Arthur A. Smith Covered Bridge Bardwell's Ferry Bridge Benson's New Block and the Mohawk Chambers Bernardston Congregational Unitarian Church Bissell Bridge Burkeville Covered Bridge Dedic Site East Charlemont District School Franklin County Fairgrounds Garden Theater Block King Philip's Hill Leavitt–Hovey House Long Plain Cemetery Maj. Joseph Griswold House Mohawk Trail Newton Street School North Cemetery Northfield Center Cemetery Odd Fellows' Hall Old Tavern Farm Orange Armory Pine Street School Robert Strong Woodward House and Studio Shelburne Free Public Library Simeon Alexander Jr. House South School The Wilder Homestead United States Post Office–Greenfield Main Weldon Hotel Whitaker-Clary House
National Historic Landmark Districts	Old Deerfield Village Historic District
See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Franklin County, Massachusetts and List of National Historic Landmarks in Massachusetts

Related Articles