Mapping Needham, 1770-1970
Maps of Needham show the rapid pace of change in our town. From a time when streets were few, and houses so sparse that each one could be plotted and labeled, to the many subdivisions that created our current streetscape. The maps are pictures of Needham’s transition from a farming town, to a manufacturing town, to a densely-populated residential suburb. Here are highlights, come in to see the rest.
The Needham Theatre in its Prime (online)
The Needham Theatre opened in 1915 when movies were a novelty, and closed in 1989 when it could no longer compete with the blockbuster multi-plex economics of the modern cinema industry. Needham’s cinema was a beloved institution that not only showed movies, but became an important downtown landmark and a primary source of community entertainment. This exhibit is online only.
The Needham Theatre in its Prime (online)
The Needham Theatre opened in 1915 when movies were a novelty, and closed in 1989 when it could no longer compete with the blockbuster multi-plex economics of the modern cinema industry. Needham’s cinema was a beloved institution that not only showed movies, but became an important downtown landmark and a primary source of community entertainment. This exhibit is online only.
4. Map of Needham, Sherman Atlas of Norfolk County, 1876. This map also shows houses and owners, but sacrificed a great deal of elegance and detail to accommodate the increased density of roads and buildings. The town’s population had grown rapidly since 1856, and the greatest changes can be seen in the manufacturing areas around Upper and Lower Falls and along the train tracks – evidence of increased economic activity from the new trains. This is the last map that includes Wellesley, which became an independent town 1881.
5. Bird’s Eye Map of Needham Center, 1887 – Birds-eye maps became popular display items in the 1800s, and were produced with decorative details to make them look more like pictures than maps. The scale was often distorted to emphasize the town’s more important buildings (town halls, churches, factories, etc). To offset the high cost of production, the publisher would solicit sponsorships from business owners and prominent residents, whose homes or businesses would then be featured as insets around the margin of the map.
6. Birds Eye Map of Highlandville (Needham Heights), 1887 – The Needham Center and Highlandville maps were part of a birds-eye atlas of Massachusetts, published by O.H. Bailey and Co. of Boston between 1880 and 1890. Oakley Hoopes Bailey was a pioneer in producing these panoramic scenes, and was one of the most prolific creators and publishers of birds-eye maps in the country between 1871 and 1927. It has been suggested that the view was taken from a tethered air balloon, but evidence for this is scarce.
Mapping Needham, 1770-1970
Maps of Needham show the rapid pace of change in our town. From a time when streets were few, and houses so sparse that each one could be plotted and labeled, to the many subdivisions that created our current streetscape. The maps are pictures of Needham’s transition from a farming town, to a manufacturing town, to a densely-populated residential suburb. Here are highlights, come in to see the rest.
The Needham Theatre in its Prime (online)
The Needham Theatre opened in 1915 when movies were a novelty, and closed in 1989 when it could no longer compete with the blockbuster multi-plex economics of the modern cinema industry. Needham’s cinema was a beloved institution that not only showed movies, but became an important downtown landmark and a primary source of community entertainment. This exhibit is online only.
The 1850 Schoolhouse Day
For Needham’s third graders, Fall is Back to School time – way back, as in 1850. Instead of Writer’s Workshop and hands-on science, they struggle with ciphering, elocution, and the inky mysteries of the quill pens. Instead of Morning Meeting, they greet their teacher with a bow or a curtsey.
Our popular 1850 Schoolhouse Day started in 2007, the year after we opened our new facility and had a genuine Needham one-room schoolhouse as the setting. The Schoolhouse Day takes the class through an authentic one-room school day, with lessons in reading, arithmetic, memorization, elocution, and penmanship. The class meets in the Needham History Center & Museum’s Upper Falls Schoolhouse. The Schoolhouse, built in 1842, is Needham’s only surviving one-room school. It is now part of the Society’s complex on Central Avenue. The School Day was developed jointly by the Needham History Center & Museum and the Needham Public Schools, and was funded by a grant from the Needham Education Foundation.
The 1850 Schoolhouse Day supplements the third grade history curriculum. By putting themselves into the past instead of just reading about it, the children gain a better understanding of history, and of the Town they live in. As one child put it, “It was fun going into the past and seeing what it looked like and seeing why they lived this way.”
Scouts
From Daisies and Cubs, through Eagle Scouts and Gold Awards, the Needham History Center welcomes Scouts for visits, workshops, and projects. Sometimes we are also a clubhouse
n 1861, Needham was a country town, very different than it is today. Just over 2500 people lived in Needham. There were only 50 streets in the entire town – dusty dirt roads, many that were just grass-covered paths leading to a single residence. There was no High School and no Library, and the only public building was the meeting hall in West Needham. There were three churches – the First Parish (Unitarian), and the new Baptist and Congregational churches. Nevertheless, public and church records show that the town had been committed to abolition for many years – and when the time came, sent more than 400 men to fight in the Civil War.
In September 1862, fifteen young men from Needham enlisted together the 44th Regiment of the MA Volunteer Infantry, and shipped out to New Bern, NC for nine months’ service. Using letters, photos and memorabilia, Free Soil – Free Men looks at life in Needham at the start of the Civil War, how the town responded, and the experiences of some of its young soldiers.
Selection from Free Soil – Free Men: Needham and the Civil War, 1861-1865
Click on slideshow images below for detail and descriptions.
