Editing Newton, Massachusetts (section)

== Geography ==
[[File:Union Street in Newton Centre.jpg|thumb|upright|Newton Centre's Union Street in 2007]]
Newton is a suburban city approximately {{convert|7|mi|km|abbr=on}} from downtown Boston, in [[Middlesex County, Massachusetts|Middlesex County]]. It is also bordered by [[Waltham, Massachusetts|Waltham]] and [[Watertown, Massachusetts|Watertown]] on the north, [[Needham, Massachusetts|Needham]] and the [[West Roxbury, Massachusetts|West Roxbury]] neighborhood of Boston on the south, [[Wellesley, Massachusetts|Wellesley]] and [[Weston, Massachusetts|Weston]] on the west, and [[Brookline, Massachusetts|Brookline]] and the [[Brighton, Massachusetts|Brighton]] neighborhood of Boston on the east.

The [[Charles River]] flows along the north and west parts of Newton, and [[Massachusetts Route 128|Route 128]] passes through the western part of the city.

The [[Massachusetts Turnpike|Mass Pike]] passes through the more urbanized northern section of the city before heading into Boston. Additional major highways in Newton include [[Massachusetts Route 9|Route 9]], serving the southern parts of the city, and [[Hammond Pond Parkway]], which is the main north–south route through Chestnut Hill and provides access to Brookline and West Roxbury.

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the city has a total area of {{convert|18.2|sqmi|km2|1}}, of which {{convert|18.0|sqmi|km2|1}} is land and {{convert|0.2|sqmi|km2|1}} (0.82%) is water.

===Geological history===

{{main|List of stratigraphic units and structural features in Massachusetts}}
Geologically Newton is located within the topographic lowland of the Boston Basin of the [[Appalachian Mountains|Appalachian Mountain]] chain.<ref>[https://www.newtonma.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/80915/63780609156097000 Geology of Newton by James W. Skehan, S.J. and Catherine W. Barton]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Boston |first1=Mailing Address: 15 State Street 4th Floor |last2=Us |first2=MA 02109 Phone: 617 223-8666 Contact |title=Geologic Formations - Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/boha/learn/nature/geologicformations.htm |access-date=January 9, 2023 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}</ref> This lowland is surrounded by a ring of highland [[drumlin]]s which were left after the last glaciation twelve thousand years ago.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Bathymetric Data Viewer |url=https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/maps/bathymetry/ |access-date=January 9, 2023 |website=www.ncei.noaa.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Glaciers and Boston |url=https://bostongeology.com/boston/geology/islands/glaciers/glaciers.htm |access-date=January 9, 2023 |website=bostongeology.com}}</ref>

There are several unique outcroppings of rocks around Newton where geologic history revealing of how territory have formed and has changed over the past hundreds millions of years of drift supercontinents and ancient oceans, earthquake activity associated with volcanism and related faulting activity and changing climate. There are mainly three types of bedrock: [[Roxbury Conglomerate]], Cambridge Argillite or Slate, and Brighton Volcanics and the [[Mattapan Volcanic Complex|Mattapan Volcanics]] pre-Cambrian foundation of Dedham Granodiorite. The Boston Border Fault and the Shawmut anticline of Newton formed as the alpine mountains of east-central Massachusetts were created.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=http://newtongeology.weebly.com/history.html |access-date=January 9, 2023 |website=The Geologic History of Newton, MA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Share |first=Dr Jack |date=March 13, 2011 |title=Written In Stone...seen through my lens: Architectural Geology of Boston: The Roxbury Conglomerate (Puddingstone) Part I – The Tectonic Evolution and Journey of Avalonia |url=https://written-in-stone-seen-through-my-lens.blogspot.com/2011/03/architectural-geology-of-boston-roxbury.html |access-date=January 9, 2023 |website=Written In Stone...seen through my lens}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Written In Stone...seen through my lens |url=https://written-in-stone-seen-through-my-lens.blogspot.com/2011/03/ |access-date=January 9, 2023 |website=written-in-stone-seen-through-my-lens.blogspot.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Thompson |first=Margaret |title=Bedrock geologic map of the Newton 7.5' quadrangle, Middlesex, Norfolk and Suffolk counties, Massachusetts |url=https://mgs.geo.umass.edu/newton |access-date=January 9, 2023 |website=mgs.geo.umass.edu}}</ref><ref>[https://newtonconservators.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/18_09_geology.pdf Introduction to the Bedrock Geology of Newton]</ref><ref>[https://www.cityofboston.gov/images_documents/Section%204%20OSP1521%20Env%20Inventory_tcm3-48430.pdf Open Space Plan 2015-2021 Section 4 Environmental Inventory & Analysis]</ref> Unique outcroppings rocks exposure has steadily declined as Newton area has become increasingly developed.

===Topography===

Newton has grown around a formation of seven hills. "The general features of Newton are not without interest. Seven principal elevations mark its surface, like the seven hills of ancient Rome, with the difference that the seven hills of Newton are much more distinct than the seven hills of Rome: [[Nonantum]] Hill, [[Waban]] Hill, [[Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts|Chestnut Hill]], Bald Pate Hill, [[Oak Hill, Massachusetts|Oak Hill]], Institution Hill and Mount Ida."<ref name="Smith">{{cite book |last=Smith |first=S.F. |title=History of Newton, Massachusetts, Town and City, from its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, 1630–1880 |chapter=Chapter 1: History of Newton |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofnewtonm1880smit#page/13/mode/1up |publisher=The American Logotype Company |date=1880 |page=13 |access-date=October 9, 2019}}</ref>

===Villages===

{{main|List of villages in Newton, Massachusetts}}

Rather than having a single city center, Newton is a patchwork of thirteen villages, many boasting small downtown areas of their own. The 13 villages are: [[Auburndale, Massachusetts|Auburndale]], [[Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts|Chestnut Hill]], [[Newton Centre, Massachusetts|Newton Centre]], [[Newton Corner, Massachusetts|Newton Corner]], [[Newton Highlands, Massachusetts|Newton Highlands]], [[Newton Lower Falls]], [[Newton Upper Falls]] (both on the [[Charles River]], and both former small industrial sites), [[Newtonville, Massachusetts|Newtonville]], [[Nonantum, Massachusetts|Nonantum]] (also known as Silver Lake or "The Lake"), [[Oak Hill, Massachusetts|Oak Hill]], [[Thompsonville, Massachusetts|Thompsonville]], [[Waban, Massachusetts|Waban]] and [[West Newton, Massachusetts|West Newton]]. [[Oak Hill Park]] is a place within the village of Oak Hill that itself is shown as a separate and distinct village on some [[city map]]s (including a map dated 2010 on the official City of Newton website),<ref>Newton's Geographic Information System: [http://www.ci.newton.ma.us/mis/gis/Maps/Villages.htm City of Newton, Massachusetts] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222050806/http://www.ci.newton.ma.us/mis/gis/Maps/Villages.htm |date=February 22, 2012}}</ref> and Four Corners is also shown as a village on some city maps. Although most of the villages have a post office, they have no legal definition and no firmly defined borders. This village-based system often causes some confusion with addresses and for first-time visitors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newtoncitizens.com/villages.shtml|title=The Villages of Newton, Mass.|work=newtoncitizens.com|access-date=February 11, 2016}}</ref>

===Climate===

The record low temperature was {{convert|−21|F}} in February 1934; the record high temperature was {{convert|101|F}} in August 1975.<ref name="Weather.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/02458|title=Monthly Averages for Newton, MA (02458) |publisher=[[The Weather Channel]] |access-date=March 16, 2012}}</ref>

{{Weather box
|location = Newton, Massachusetts
|single line = Y
|Jan record high F = 68
|Feb record high F = 68
|Mar record high F = 89
|Apr record high F = 94
|May record high F = 93
|Jun record high F = 99
|Jul record high F = 100
|Aug record high F = 101
|Sep record high F = 99
|Oct record high F = 88
|Nov record high F = 81
|Dec record high F = 74
|year record high F = 101
|Jan high F = 34
|Feb high F = 37
|Mar high F = 44
|Apr high F = 56
|May high F = 66
|Jun high F = 76
|Jul high F = 82
|Aug high F = 79
|Sep high F = 72
|Oct high F = 60
|Nov high F = 50
|Dec high F = 39
|Jan low F = 17
|Feb low F = 19
|Mar low F = 27
|Apr low F = 38
|May low F = 48
|Jun low F = 57
|Jul low F = 63
|Aug low F = 62
|Sep low F = 55
|Oct low F = 43
|Nov low F = 34
|Dec low F = 24
|Jan record low F = −14
|Feb record low F = −21
|Mar record low F = −5
|Apr record low F = 6
|May record low F = 27
|Jun record low F = 36
|Jul record low F = 44
|Aug record low F = 39
|Sep record low F = 28
|Oct record low F = 20
|Nov record low F = 5
|Dec record low F = −19
|year record low F = −21
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation inch = 4.35
|Feb precipitation inch = 4.24
|Mar precipitation inch = 5.58
|Apr precipitation inch = 4.55
|May precipitation inch = 4.11
|Jun precipitation inch = 4.31
|Jul precipitation inch = 4.02
|Aug precipitation inch = 4.03
|Sep precipitation inch = 4.06
|Oct precipitation inch = 4.69
|Nov precipitation inch = 4.76
|Dec precipitation inch = 4.89
|source 1 =<ref name="Weather.com" />
}}