One of Newton’s few surviving pre-Revolutionary War houses is the Durant-Kenrick House on Waverly Avenue. Built in 1732 by Capt. Edward Durant, the house was constructed on land which had once been the Praying Indian Village of Nonantum, established in 1646 by Rev. John Eliot of Roxbury as the first Christian Indian community in British North America. In 1790, the Durant House and farm were acquired by John Kenrick, an abolitionist and noted horticulturist who started a commercial nursery in the 1790s. After his death, one son, William Kenrick, inherited the nursery, while another, John A. Kenrick, inherited the family … Continue reading Durant-Kenrick House (1732)