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Newton Park and Conservation Lands
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Norumbega Park Conservation Area |
LOCATION: Auburndale
Location
and driving directions on Google Maps for entrances at:
Islington Road Woodbine Street
MBTA: A 0.5 mile walk from Auburndale commuter rail station
Newton Conservators trail map (Buy a copy of our trail guide)
Other maps and aerial
photos: Newton Assessor Bing USGS
Connects to: Auburndale Park via a short walk on Commonwealth Avenue or Islington Road
SIZE:
13 acres
LONGEST WALK : 1 mile (a longer walk that includes this park)
ACQUIRED: 1976
ADMINISTERED BY: Conservation
Commission
FEATURES:
Trails wind through a meadow, steep pine
and hemlock covered riverbanks, and wooded knoll opening to a scenic
view of the Charles River. There are tagged, honorary trees and
shrubs in the meadow.
HISTORY:
| 1897 |
Part
of Norumbega
Park, a 27-acre, privately owned park situated at the end
of the streetcar line from Boston. The park originally had a
deer park, small zoo, popular canoeing facilities, amphitheater,
and later the famous Totem Pole Ballroom.
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| 1963 |
Norumbega Park closed. |
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| 1976 |
Using state funds,
the City of Newton took by eminent domain the 13 acres of old
Norumbega Park that remained after the 1969 construction of
the Marriott Hotel on the western portion. |
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Charles
River Canoe and Kayak offers rentals from a site near this
park.
On the Charles.com (kayaking and canoeing information)
 The NorumbegaPark.com website has historic information and photos. A Boston Globe article talks about the creator of the website, and about the park.
Norumbega Park: Then and Now, by Allison Carter (Newton Patch)
From the Newton History
Museum at Jackson Homestead:
Canoeing
on the Charles
Romance & Recreation by the River, by Robert Pollock
 Wikipedia
Books:
An AMC
book, Exploring the Hidden
Charles, gives information about canoing the Charles River.
The Charles
River is an out-of-print book, available from online sellers.
It also provides information about canoing
the Charles River and hiking near its banks. It includes USGS
maps of the entire length of the Charles.
Photos:
Photo gallery
Norumbega Park Then and Now
Canoeing on the Charles in 1904
Love Boats: The Delightfully Sinful History of Canoes
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