Newton, MA history

This Newton Blue Book is a city directory that contains 248++ pages of names, addresses, clubs, businesses, etc., as well as ten pages of maps.  It is both an alphabetic directory of residents of Newton in 1910, as well as a street directory with names of residents at each address shown.  Click on the page image below to see a sample page (from the West Newton section of the directory in this case):

The communities covered in the listings in the book include Chestnut Hill, Auburndale, Newton, West Newton, Newtonville, Lower Falls, Newton Highlands, Upper Falls, and Waban.  On the large (about 26" x 26") map additional neighborhoods or political subdivisions appear, including Waban Hill, Newton Centre, Nonantum, Reed's Corner, and Thompsonville. 

Some of the geographical and institutional captions on the map include Bald Pate Hill, Oak Hill, the Working Boys' Home, Winchester Hill, Paul Brook, Meadow Brook, Hammond's Pond, the Boston & Albany R. R., Strongs Pond, Silver Lake, Charles River Reservation, Flowed Meadow, Auburndale Park, Cheese Cake Brook, Beacon Hill, Newton Hospital, Metropolitan Park, Newton Cemetery, Claflin Field, Pulsifer's Cove, Newton Theological Institution, and Lower Falls Park.  The map's scale is 1200 feet to the inch (a pretty generous scale), and its copyright was 1906 & 1907.   

Blue Book for Newton is both a genealogical aid and a document of a way of life that for the most part has vanished.  That statement is based on the caption on the Title page that tells us that the book contains a "List of the Leading Residents, Societies, Clubs, Etc."  One senses that there is some social selectivity implied, and the listing of clubs tends to corroborate this notion.

We have compiled a list of the surnames that appear in the residential listings.  We invite you to view it -- especially if you would like to determine that a particular surname appears before purchasing the download.  Please to view the list of surnames included in the alphabetic directory listings in the Blue Book.

Here are four rather unusual items in the Blue Book for Newton for 1910:

• Seating plans for all of the respectable theatres in Boston are a feature of this book.  We've not seen that in any other directory.  The following theatres are included:  Boston Theatre, Symphony Hall, Majestic Theatre, Globe Theatre, New Gaiety Theatre, Colonial Theatre, Park Theatre, Tremont Theatre, Keith's Theatre, Steinert Hall, Hollis Street Theatre, Boston Opera House, American Music Hall, Huntington Chambers Hall, Castle Square Theatre, and Chickering Hall.
• There's a large fold-out map in the book.  We've scanned it and provide it in the download as eight full-sized images at high resolution that you can view on your computer and print sections of as you wish.
• Advertisements that definitely reflect an upper-class way of life, quite unlike ads from the same period in less elegant neighborhoods, counties, or cities.  For example, advertisements for a riding academy and for private schools are far from standard fare for city directories!  But you'll find them in this book.
• Occasional addresses list an alternative "Summer address" near the ocean.  This is common in other directories, such as the Social Register, but is not frequently seen in city directories in our experience.

How to obtain the Blue Book of Newton MA for 1910:

We had previously issued this item as a CD-ROM, but have discontinued our CD-ROM business.  We have made the Blue Book available as a download at a considerable savings to you.  It is in the popular PDF format, permitting you to print selected pages, etc.  The images are high resolution.  While the CD cost $15, as a download the Blue Book is just $9.00.

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