Welcome to Cambridge, Massachusetts!

• TOWN INFORMATION

• LIVING HERE

• HISTORY

• POINTS OF INTEREST

TOWN INFORMATION

Established: 1630
Distance from Boston: 2 miles
Type of Gov't: Mayor/City Council
City Hall: 349-4000
Land Area: 7.14 sq.mi.
Population: 94,525
Area Code: (617)
Zip Codes: 02138, 02139, 02140, 02141, 02142

LIVING HERE

Cambridge, home to many of America's most distinguished writers, artists and leaders, is also one of America's most renowned intellectual centers boasting schools like Harvard, MIT, and Radcliff. Those who live in this cosmopolitan community find it both stimulating and neighborly. Each section of the city offers a decidedly different residential lifestyle--in fact, it seems that every few blocks uncovers a new and distinct, yet harmonious, neighborhood.

History is everywhere, preserved, polished and celebrated. And the convenience and variety of shopping, dining, transportation, culture, and education is unmatched. Cambridge's diverse populace enjoys a broad variety of living accommodations, from fine residential neighborhoods, handsome apartments and condominiums, to stately 19th century residences.

Then there's Harvard Square, parks and museums, art and theater, great recreational opportunities, the wonderful Charles River--and the convenience of the city of Boston on its opposite shore. Constantly growing and changing with a love and respect for its historic past, Cambridge offers a rich and rewarding lifestyle not available anywhere else.

HISTORY

First settled by farmers in 1630 and known as New Town, Cambridge was the capital of Massachusetts Bay Colony until 1634. In 1638 the town was renamed Cambridge (after England's university town) and the following year its three year old college was renamed Harvard. Mansions built along Brattle Street by British loyalists were then occupied during the Revolutionary War by American notables like George Washington. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Margaret Fuller and James Russell Lowell were among many scholars who contributed to Harvard University's growth and recognition as a renowned educational education.

The town grew and expanded geographically with three distinct centers --Old Cambridge, Cambridgeport and East Cambridge, and later, the area between Harvard Square and Central Square--Mid Cambridge. Little more than a century ago Harvard Square was a quiet village center, shaded by a great elm tree from which diverged the roads to Boston, Arlington, Charlestown and Watertown.

Railroads arrived in the mid-1800's bringing industry and commerce. Soon Cambridge trailed only Boston as the state's most important industrial city. The broad and wonderful Charles River was born in 1912 when the newly built Charles River Dam converted what were tidal mud flats into this magnificent waterway. 1912 also saw the start up of the "Red Line." Cambridge's current dominance in a variety of technological enterprises began about 50 years ago, spurned by the communities abundant human resources and academic facilities.

POINTS OF INTEREST

HISTORIC HOMES

• Longfellow House. Rich in history. George Washington lived here for nine months during the Revolutionary War before Henry Wadsworth Longfellow took up residence.

• The Blacksmith House. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow immortalized his neighbor Dexter Pratt, the "Village Smithy," who plied his trade in his historic 1808 house. Today the Blacksmith House is shared by the Cambridge Center for Adult Education and a bakery/cafe.

CEMETERIES

• The Old Burying Ground. Massachusetts oldest cemetery is the final resting place for many colonial settlers, American Revolution patriort and Harvard presidents.

• Mount Auburn Cemetery. This picturesque cemetery dating back to 1831` is the oldest rural garden cemetery in the United States. Many distinguished figures, including Henry Wadsworth Longfellow are interred here.

ARTS & THEATER

• Hasty Pudding Theater. Home of the renowned Cambridge Theater Company. Also, each year, after a lively parade through Harvard Square, the Hasty Pudding club, founded in 1770, "honors" its Man and Woman of the Year.

• Cambridge Multi-Cultural Arts Center. Once the Hall of Records, this magnificently restored 19th century ballroom and theater now offers a myriad of multi-cultural arts and humanities presentations.

• Loeb Drama Center. The American Repertory Theater performs professional, classical and experimental productions.

MUSEUMS

• Harvard University Museums of Natural History include the Botanical Museum, the Museum of Comparative Zoology, the Harvard Mineralogical Museum and the Peabody Museum of Archeaology.

• The Fogg Museum. Harvard's world-renowned crown jewel museum houses an outstanding collection of art objects and fine arts.

• The Busch Reisinger Museum. This beautiful building with its stately clock tower and gracious courtyard displays mostly medieval to modern northern European art.

• The Arthur M. Sackler Museum. Often called "Fogg's Annex," this museum, featuring a large lecture hall and classrooms, exhibits Oriental and Islamic art, as well as a variety of special exhibits.

• M.I.T. Visual Arts Center displays important and historical University documents and artifacts.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts maintains a page of excellent links to further information on Cambridge here.