National Register of Historic Places—Wellesley, Mass.

Jun 21, 2023

There are over one and a half million properties on the National Register of Historic Places. Eleven of them are in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.

Built: mid-1800s Added to the Register: 1988

Located between the Charles River and Lake Waban in Wellesley and Natick, the Hunnewell Estates Historic District consists of a large group of 18th to 21st century agricultural and estate properties with farmland, gardens, residences, and landscapes of the Hunnewell and Welles families. The properties are still largely owned and occupied by members of the Hunnewell family. All of the properties within the district are private residences. Most are seldom open to the public.

Built: 1846-1848

Built: 1853 Added to Register: 1976

The Eaton-Moulton Mill at 37 Walnut Street in Lower Falls is noteworthy as one of the few buildings standing in town with an industrial past. In addition, its stone facade is a rarity in a town with mostly wooden structures.

Built: 1893 Added to Register: 1986

We’ve taken an interest over the years in the Wellesley Farms Railroad Station. The place has a spooky atmosphere, with its Scooby-Doo air of decay and abandonment. It still serves as a shelter for commuters, who wait there before boarding the commuter rail train, which gets them to Boston’s South Station in several stops.

Built: 1878 Added to Register: 1990

Tucked away in the back of beyond of Wellesley there’s an obscure landmark of such importance it’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Waban Arches, beautiful and little-known, is a 145-year old stone bridge located behind the privately-owned 9-hole Nehoiden Golf Course. The nine-arches structure rises over 50 feet above above Fuller Brook and Waban Brook, and is a popular spot for in-the-know walkers and bird watchers. Read more.

Built: 1881-1885 Added to Register: 1976

Wellesley Town Hall, closed for interior renovations at least through 2023, is located at 525 Washington Street. Horatio Hollis Hunnewell (1810-1902), for whom the town was named, donated the land on which Town Hall was built, and financed construction of the building. The building started out as the town’s public library, and Hunnewell funded the initial collection.

Built: 1894 Added to Register: 1981

The Intermediate Building served as the first Wellesley High School from 1895 – 1907, and later as an annex to Town Hall. It is now Phillips Park Apartments for senior citizens.

Built:1899 Added to Register: 2013

The park runs roughly parallel to Washington Street along the Fuller Brook and Caroline Brook. Back in July 2014, the town broke ground on a $6million restoration of the 100-plus-year-old Fuller Brook Park project. The park was established in 1899 and designed by John Charles Olmsted (nephew of Frederick Law Olmsted and a noted landscape designer in his own right) and others.

Built: 1918 Added to Register: 2014

Built: 1927 Added to Register: 2007

Built: 1928 Added to Register: 2007

Elm Park was once home to the Elm Park Hotel, but the town bought the land in the early 1900s and tore down the old hotel to create a park. In 1928, despite the looming Great Depression, Town Meeting approved funding creation of a clock tower to house the clock and bell that had been at the old Shaw School at Forest and Washington Streets, where town meetings were once held. The 65-foot-high tower was designed by park commissioner Benjamin, Proctor, Jr., and granite fieldstones to build it were provided by real estate developer and banker Isaac Sprague V, a mover and shaker in town who among other things was the first president of the Wellesley Historical Society. We’ve been inside the clock tower, and had the time of our lives.