I’m not sure when this was created but a reader recently shared this link to a wonderful online exhibit of old photos by Jon Chase of the former Nonantum Block in Newton Corner which was once home home to a small but tightly knit neighborhood of 125 people and 21 stores.
Greg. Thanks for posting this. Newton Corner wasn’t a part of my life growing up here, but these pictures epitomize a tight knit neighborhood of homes, apartments and neighborhood stores. One sad item in the destruction of the old “round building ” is the storefront sign for Cottage Donuts. Cottage Donuts had stores there and one in Newtonville that is now a Dunkin Donuts. Everyone seems to love Dunkin Donuts, but the donuts from Cottage were 5 stars.
Fantastic! Like traveling back in time. I loved the photo of Mayor Mann at his inaugural.
Wow. Sad. I was 12 when this all happened, I don’t remember it. I remember going to see Invasion of the Body Snatchers in the Paramount Cinema in Newton Corner. And that the theater caught on fire while my friend was watching “ET”.
Cottage Donuts was indeed a big deal, as was the Paramount, which had a balcony. That balcony was quite the special hangout in the 70s! This area of Newton Corner was demographically similar to the Lake. The web gallery represents the second, final phase of the destruction of Newton Corner. The first and even bigger demolition took place a generation earlier, when the Pike came in and the village center was split in half.
I’ve sometimes referred to the Mass Pike in Newton as the “Mason-Dixon Line,” dividing the north part of our city from the south. The Pike is an ugly scar. But the air-rights above the Pike represent by far the largest developable area left in the city. If properly developed, it would not only heal the scar, but the property tax revenue would go a long way toward solving Newton’s fiscal problems including unfunded obligations.
@Mike Striar: I don’t know whether any local developer is big enough to tackle the technical problems of building over the MA Pike. Does anyone know if there is a HUGE nationwide developer who could be awakened to come here to bid on a Big Undig in Newton? Someone with the ability to knit together two continents riven by a river of cars? Those cars would need to be undergrounded as if going to the airport to give Newton back its ground-level territory. Line it with retail shops, parking, 1, 2 and 3 family homes, condos and apartments. Include parks, space for a new school complex (elementary and middle school levels) and a shuttle bus system that circles from Newton Corner to the beginning of the original fabric’s tear in West Newton. And don’t forget the Commuter Rail. Upgrade the Newtonville Station to 2090 status. Yup, it’s a dream, but how else do you get started? Oh, and no concessions to the developer. Let the market place reign with the neighbors’ voices conducting the symphony of their visioned wishes and desires. Speaking of symphony, perhaps a Center for the Performing Arts, too? I wouldn’t mind living in such a place. I’m awaiting the naysayers who would quash the possibilities.
We watched the Paramount Theater burn
I was out driving around with my closest friend and we drove by and saw the fire trucks, commotion and smoke
We sat at HoJoS on the wall across the street and watched
It was so sad to us because we’d spent so many good times going to movies there from our first movie theater experiences until the day it caught fire