Waban (MBTA station)
Waban is a surface-level light rail station on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's Green Line "D" Branch, located just south of Beacon Street at Waban Square in the Waban section of Newton, Massachusetts. The station is located below grade; access to both platforms is via Wyman Street on the outbound side of the tracks or a stairway from Beacon Street. Waban is not handicapped accessible, as the platforms have not been raised to interface with low-floor trams.
Station layout
History
Waban formerly boasted an H.H. Richardson-designed train station, like those still standing in Newton Highlands and Newton Center. The original station was completed in August 1886 as part of the Boston and Albany Railroad and was one of the last stations designed by Richardson before his death in April 1886.
Waban closed along with the rest of the Highland Branch commuter rail line in 1958 and reopened on July 4, 1959 as part of the light rail D Branch. The H.H. Richardson station was demolished in order to build a 74-space parking lot.
Waban
Waban (c.1604—c.1685) was a Native American of the Nipmuc group and was the first Native American to be converted to Christianity in Massachusetts.
Life
Waban was born about 1604 at Musketaquid, near the present town of Concord. His conversion to Christianity came on October 28, 1646 (Julian calendar), when the missionary Reverend John Eliot preached his first sermon to Native Americans in their own language in Waban's large wigwam in Nonantum, Massachusetts, and Waban and many of his tribe were converted.
Waban maintained close and friendly relations with the white settlers of Massachusetts and, in April 1675, reported to an English magistrate that trouble was brewing amongst the Wampanoags. Within two months, Waban's predictions came to pass when a Wampanoag named Metacomet, known as "King Philip," led his nation in the initially successful King Philip's War. Metacomet's subsequent death in August 1676 signalled the end of the brief war, and the rebellion soon collapsed due to a lack of leadership. Nevertheless, Waban, falsely accused of being a conspirator, was imprisoned in October 1675. After a brief period of captivity, Waban was released in the spring of 1676 and returned to his settlement of Natick, Massachusetts.
Waban, Massachusetts
Waban is one of the thirteen villages of Newton, Massachusetts, a suburban city approximately seven miles from downtown Boston.
Origin of name
Waban was named for Waban, the first Massachusett Indian converted to Christianity, in 1646. Although Waban lived in Nonantum, a hill in the northeasternmost part of Newton, the area around the present village of Waban was a favored hunting ground. Dr. Lawrence Strong, in his history of the town, wrote:
My father, William Chamberlain Strong, was very active in securing the right-of-way for the Boston and Albany Railroad at the time the Newton Circuit Road was built. The location of a station here marked a potential village, and a name was required. My father had previously lived on Nonantum Hill in Brighton, where Waban, the Chief of the Indian tribe Nonantum, had his wigwam, and where Eliot, the Apostle to the Indians, preached. A memorial marks this spot today. So the name "Waban" for the new village easily suggested itself to my father. I am told Waban, or Wabanoki, means "east" in the Indian tongue. The spelling of the name cannot be held to coincide with its pronunciation. I believe the pronunciation is correct and the correct spelling would be either Wauban or more probably Waughban.
Waban (disambiguation)
Waban may refer to:
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