[1] Situated adjacent to Boston (West Roxbury), Oak Hill Park is roughly bounded by Mount Ida College to its northwest, Dedham Street to the northeast, the Charles River to the southwest, and Mount Lebanon Cemetery and the Boston city limit to the southeast.
He purchased 120 acres (0.49 km2) of land from Jonathan Hyde and John Woodward (early settlers of Newton) in 1703, for the sum of £90.
With the exception of the adjoining Bigelow Estate and Esty Farm, most of the land upon which Oak Hill Park was eventually built had in fact been the property of the Wiswall family.
[5][6] Some time between 1910 and 1946, a large portion of this land passed out of the Wiswall family and came to be owned and used by a business entity known as the Highland Sand and Gravel Pit.
This program, approved on May 23, 1946, under Chapter 372 of the 1946 Acts and Resolves of Massachusetts, allowed the city of Newton to borrow and spend money to construct new housing specifically for veterans of World War II.
[7] In January 1948, the City of Newton established the Veterans Housing Department to oversee the development of Oak Hill Park.
Consisting of 412 homes, a small shopping center and a school, this subdivision was named Oak Hill Park.
[8] Shortly after the veterans moved in, they formed the Oak Hill Park Association (OHPA), which dealt with the city and developers, published a monthly newsletter and became the dominant social and political force in the community.
On any day of the week, one could see many mothers and children walking, playing, visiting, shopping, etc.,- a real neighborhood atmosphere and a wonderful place to raise a family.
Its residents comprise a congenial mixture of ethnic and economic backgrounds, ages, vocations, interests and talents.
While the shopping center no longer has a grocery store (first Market Basket, then Prime Food Market), a pharmacy (Oak Park Pharmacy), a dry cleaners (Chiswick Cleaners) or a gas station (The Prioli Brothers), it does now have a pizza parlor (which delivers), a hair salon and a plumber, as well as a few condominiums.
Boundary markers for the old Newton Water Works can be found in this area, which is an excellent destination for those wishing to view typical glacial topography -- eskers, drumlins, kettle holes and moraines abound.
Transmitter towers for WUNR radio (once WVOM, and later WBOS, at 1600 kHz) are located at the edge of this land, just off Spiers Road and Saw Mill Brook Parkway.