Editing Newton, Massachusetts (section)

===17th century===
Newton was originally part of "the newe towne", which was settled in 1630 and renamed [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]] in 1638. The first English settlement of what is now Newton began in 1639. Roxbury minister [[John Eliot (missionary)|John Eliot]] persuaded the Native American people of Nonantum, a sub-tribe of the [[Massachusett (tribe)|Massachusett]] led by a [[sachem]] named [[Waban]], to relocate to [[Natick]] in 1651, fearing that they would be exploited by colonists.<ref>{{cite book |last=McAdow |first=Ron |title=The Charles River |publisher=Bliss Publishing Company, Inc. |location=Marlborough, MA |year=1992 |pages=171–174 |isbn=0-9625144-1-1}}</ref> Newton was incorporated as a separate [[New England town|town]], known as Cambridge Village, on December 15, 1681, then renamed Newtown in 1691, and finally Newton in 1766.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ritter |first=Priscilla R. |author2=Thelma Fleishman |title=Newton, Massachusetts 1679–1779: A Biographical Directory |year=1982 |publisher=New England Historic Genealogical Society}}</ref> It became a city on January 5, 1874. Newton is known as ''The Garden City''.

In the early 1600s, [[Watertown, Massachusetts|Watertown]] had claimed a large area of land on the south side of the Charles River (modern-day Newton). They gave it up to Newtown, except for a strip "two hundred rods long and sixty rods wide" to "protect their fishing privileges".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Samuel Francis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=st0BNUPm6SsC&q=newton,+massachusetts |title=History of Newton, Massachusetts: Town and City, from Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, 1630-1880 |date=1880 |publisher=American Logotype Company |language=en}}</ref>{{Rp|page=82}}