[1] Curve Street, and adjacent areas that were razed to make way for the adjacent Massachusetts Turnpike, has been a center of Newton's African-American community since about 1870, and is the only such area to retain any sort of historic integrity in the city.

Houses along densely packed Curve Street have in some cases remained in the ownership of the same families since the area was first settled.

Most are single-family residences, although there is one large Second Empire house that has been converted to condominiums, and there are a few duplexes and one triple-decker.

Stylistically they are diverse, typically done in vernacular versions of popular revival styles of the period.

It retains many of its original architectural features, including a bracketed cornice, segmented-arch dormers in the mansard roof, and an elaborate cupola.