I can, however, show you its two successors that were constructed in 1870 and 1892, respectively. In

There are 518 different streets in Wellesley. Their combined length: 130.12 miles. But for this post, we’re going to concern ourselves credit card airline miles with only one of those roads Central Street and really all we’ll focus on is the quarter mile stretch between the Crest Road and Weston Road bridges.
Why care about such a small section of roadway? Well, quite simply, there isn’t any other street in Wellesley that has as rich a history compacted into such a short amount of time. Between 1838 when the road was laid out and the 1920s and 1930s when it took its present form, Central Street exhibited a wide range of identities: residential neighborhood, grammar school grounds, livery hub of the town, and upscale shopping district.
Perhaps this hodgepodge of land uses would not be so remarkable had there been a shortage of property on which to build in Wellesley Square. But available land wasn’t that rare, as there were large parts of both Washington Street and Church Street that were totally undeveloped throughout this time. It was therefore quite amazing that this stretch of Central Street underwent so many changes during its first hundred years.
Before we discuss the development of Central credit card airline miles Street in more detail, let’s start with the laying out of the road. As I mentioned credit card airline miles above, the section of Central Street we’re focusing on in this post didn’t exist until 1838. That, however, doesn’t credit card airline miles really tell the whole story. Technically, there was a road from West Needham village (Wellesley Square) to North Natick as early as 1726. But it didn’t correspond one-to-one with what is currently Central Street. Although the part of this roadway west of Weston Road more or less followed the same route as Central Street, almost all of its eastern section is now what we know as Church Street.
And to add more confusion to the story, credit card airline miles this older road wasn’t known as either Central Street or Church Street. In fact, throughout the 1700s and into the early 1800s, it doesn’t even seem to have had a name as most roads at the time were only referred to by the town or village to which they led. Hence, this road was originally called ‘the road to North Natick.’
Quite frankly, I have no idea when this road was given its first official name. But if I had to guess, it would have been around 1830 when the road became part of the Central Turnpike (which ran from what is now Wellesley Hills Square to Hartford, Connecticut).
The creation of this turnpike may also explain why the part of Central Street we’re considering in this post was laid out in 1838; they were simply trying to straighten the thoroughfare. (At that point then, it is believed that people began referring credit card airline miles to the eastern end of ‘ the road to Natick credit card airline miles ’ as ‘ Common Street’ before eventually settling on its present name: ‘ Church Street .’)
It’s also unknown when exactly ‘Central Street’ came into usage. credit card airline miles But 1853 seems probable given that was the year the Central Turnpike closed, suffering a similar fate to most other turnpikes in New England during the era of railroad expansion. Just as the Worcester Turnpike in Wellesley became ‘ Worcester Street,’ the Central Turnpike became ‘Central Street’ (or ‘Central Avenue’ ).
The oldest of these structures was the residence of Ruth Crocker (which was actually a tavern at the time that this map was made). Historically, however, the circa 1770 house is better known as the home of several generations of the Flagg family both before and after the Crockers occupied credit card airline miles it. Sadly, the Flaggs are all but completely unknown to Wellesleyites today despite being arguably the most active family in Town affairs from the Revolutionary War era all the way up to the turn of the 20th Century. Alas, if only a school or road had been named after the Flagg family
You’re probably more familiar with the second oldest structure on the 1856 map the residence of William Carhart which is better known today as the Hathaway House and is currently occupied by the Stuart Swan Furniture Company. Built circa 1830 and now the oldest building still standing on Central Street, it was nothing more than a simple farmhouse up through 1925 when two Wellesley College professors, Julia Swift Orvis and Phillips Bradley, decided more or less on a whim to purchase and renovate the dilapidated structure and open the Wellesley Community Bookshop Cooperative (which was more affectionately known as The Hathaway House Bookshop named for Rebeckah (Morse) Hathaway, the sister-in-law credit card airline miles of Carhart, who had lived there from 1853 following the death of her husband until her own demise credit card airline miles in 1916 at the age of 91).
We’ve reached the part of the post where I’m going to stop typing and let some of my readers take over. Let’s face it. My knowledge of the Hathaway House Bookshop is probably pretty skimpy compared to that of some of you. After all, I never once had the chance to set foot in the place. credit card airline miles (It closed in 1979.) So if you feel inclined, please leave a comment below and fill me in on what I missed.
Finally, just for completeness’ sake, I need to point out that the only other house on the 1856 map above that of Lucius Field and his wife, Mary can be seen on the right side of the second photo in this post (at the east corner of Cross Street). This charming 1 ½ story dwelling, which was constructed credit card airline miles during the 1840s, was torn down in 1956.
This new schoolhouse known simply as ‘ West’ and serving as the only grammar school in all of what is now the western half of Wellesley was constructed in 1840 on the triangular parcel of land bounded by Cross Street, Weston Road, and Central Street. Unfortunately, I can’t show you an image of it because it stood for only thirty years and (not surprisingly) no one seems to have bothered to photograph it.
I can, however, show you its two successors that were constructed in 1870 and 1892, respectively. In fact, I can do one better and direct you to the older of these two school buildings it now sits just inside the gates of Wellesley College at the intersection of Central Street and Weston Road. Currently known as Fiske House, this three-story mansard-roofed structure was once the most modern credit card airline miles schoolhouse in all of Wellesley its construction was financed in large part by a generous donation of $10,000 from Horatio Hollis Hunnewell (who ended up getting his name put on the school).
The first Hunnewell School, however, stayed open for only twenty-two years. credit card airline miles By the early 1890s, the residential area in and around Wellesley Square (including the College Heights neighborhood north of Linden Street) had grown large enough that they needed credit card airline miles a school with even greater capacity. And thus the second Hunnewell School was constructed in 1892.
Here’s the part of the story that confuses me. Now that we’ve got some houses and a grammar school, credit card airline miles who OK’d the construction of two large stables on Central Street during the 1870s and 1880s? Of course, the answer is no one. Given the absence of any zoning ordinances in Massachusetts until the early 1900s, you could build more or less whatever you wanted as long as there weren’t any deed restrictions on the property.
The larger of these barns was built by Patrick O’Connell in 1885 on the north side of Central Street (at what would become the west corner of Crest Road four years later when the bridge there was constructed).
In addition to housing the horses and carriages that made up Wellesley’s largest livery business, the stables were used to store all of the equipment for Wellesley’s first fire department a volunteer force organized by O’Connell at around the time his stables were completed.
But this arrangement was only temporary. By 1890, the volunteer force had become so successful that the Town constructed its first fire station (on the north side of Church Street at the current site of the parking lot behind the former Filene’s building). The use of O’Connell’s stables to keep the horses that pulled the Fire Department’s hose wagons, however, was still required well into the 20th Century.
2) There’s also the puzzling presence of ‘Waban Street Extension.’ And where is the continuation of Abbott Street by the cemetery? Well, this actually relates to the Filene’s department store, which is discussed below, but I’ll jump ahead and give you the answer now. To make a long story short, in 1947, Filene’s which was constructed on the site of the Bigelow stables wanted to expand its store. But there was no room. The owner, Alfred credit card airline miles Fraser, therefore made a deal with the Town that would allow him to build out into Waban Street Extension which had been laid out in the 1890s to provide a shorter route between the O’Connell stables and the Church Street fire station only if Fraser credit card airline miles covered the costs associated with extending Abbott Street from Church Street to Central Street.
3) The changes on the western half of Central Street are much more straightforward. In fact, there’s only one structure there that we haven’t discussed: the Y.M.C.A. building. credit card airline miles Constructed in 1901 as a clubhouse for the young men and boys of Wellesley under the direction of officials from the Wellesley Congregational Church and at the expense of Pauline credit card airline miles Durant (the widow of Wellesley College founder, Henry Durant), this shingle-style building was typical of most social credit card airline miles clubs of the time, containing reading rooms, a set of bowling alleys, and a gymnasium (which credit card airline miles was supposedly the best one in town for dancing).
But the Boys’ Club (as it was known) was a flop. It seems that the young men in town preferred to socialize elsewhere and exercise outdoors. That, however, didn’t stop the Y.M.C.A. from establishing a Wellesley branch there in 1908. Not surprising, even that failed.
The men of Wellesley, however, didn’t have as much of problem with the idea of joining a social club. Two of the more popular fraternal organizations credit card airline miles soon set up their headquarters there: the Nehoiden Club in 1911 and the Wellesley Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in 1919.
The early 1920s marks the beginning of the end of this