Cambridge Common Historic District

Last updated

Cambridge Common Historic District
Cannons on the Common - Cambridge, MA.jpg
USA Massachusetts location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
LocationGarden, Waterhouse, Cambridge, and Peabody Sts., and Massachusetts Ave. (original)
Roughly NW of Waterhouse St. on Concord Ave. between Garden and Follen Sts. (boundary increase and decrease),
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°22′35″N71°7′15″W / 42.37639°N 71.12083°W / 42.37639; -71.12083
ArchitectWhitney, Anne; Multiple
Architectural styleQueen Anne, Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival
MPS Cambridge MRA
NRHP reference No. 73000281 (original)
87000499 (Boundary Increase and Decrease) [1]
Added to NRHPApril 13, 1973 (original)
January 26, 1987 (Boundary Increase and Decrease) [1]

The Cambridge Common Historic District is a historic district encompassing one of the oldest parts of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is centered on the Cambridge Common, which was a center of civic activity in Cambridge after its founding in 1631. It was the site of the election for governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1636, and was a military barracks site during the American Revolutionary War. The common was gradually reduced in size to its present roughly triangular shape, and surrounded by buildings in the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1973 a historic district encompassing the extant common and everything within 100 feet (30 m) of it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1987 the district was amended to rationalize the boundary, which overlapped adjacent districts and included portions of some buildings. [2]

Contents

The district now includes properties across Waterhouse Street to the west of the common, including the Christian Science Church, a Classical Revival structure, the brick apartment houses along[ clarification needed ] and the 1753 Georgian Frost-Waterhouse House, the oldest building in the district. To the north, across Massachusetts Avenue, the district includes Hemenway Gymnasium, Hastings Hall, Gannet House, and the Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church. On the south side, across Garden Street, lie the Old Burying Ground, The First Parish in Cambridge, Christ Church (a National Historic Landmark), and several houses. [2]

The 1987 amendment to the district also added a small cluster of residential properties on Farwell Street, a dead-end street that is connected to the district by a footpath adjacent to the Old Burying Ground. It represents a well-preserved collection of properties dating to the 18th and 19th centuries that harken back to the days when Harvard Square was primarily residential in character. [2]

Notable interments

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvard Square</span> Plaza in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.

Harvard Square is a triangular plaza at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street and John F. Kennedy Street near the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The term "Harvard Square" is also used to delineate the business district and Harvard University surrounding that intersection, which is the historic center of Cambridge. Adjacent to Harvard Yard, the historic heart of Harvard University, the Square functions as a commercial center for Harvard students, as well as residents of western Cambridge, the western and northern neighborhoods and the inner suburbs of Boston. The Square is served by Harvard station, a major MBTA Red Line subway and a bus transportation hub.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christ Church (Cambridge, Massachusetts)</span> Historic church in Massachusetts, United States

Christ Church, at Zero Garden Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., is a parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. Built in 1760–61, it was designated a National Historic Landmark as one of the few buildings unambiguously attributable to Peter Harrison, the first formally trained architect to work in the British colonies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Park Street District</span> Historic district in Boston, Massachusetts

The Park Street District is a historic district encompassing a small cluster of historic properties on or near Park Street in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts. The district covers an entire city block delineated by Park Street, Beacon Street, School Street, and Tremont Street, just east of the Boston Common. The district reflects an early design of the area by architect Charles Bulfinch, although only a few buildings from his period survive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ash Street Historic District</span> Historic district in Massachusetts, United States

The Ash Street Historic District Cambridge, Massachusetts is a residential historic district on Ash Street and Ash Street Place between Brattle and Mount Auburn Streets in Cambridge, Massachusetts, off Brattle Street just west of Harvard Square. The district consists of ten well-preserved houses, most of which were built between 1850 and 1890. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Brattle House</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The William Brattle House is an historic house in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is one of the seven Colonial mansions described by historian Samuel Atkins Eliot as making up Tory Row, housing several prominent figures in early colonial history. It remains in use by the Cambridge Center for Adult Education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Follen Street Historic District</span> Historic district in Massachusetts, United States

The Follen Street Historic District is a historic district in Cambridge, Massachusetts, just northwest of the Cambridge Common. Follen Street is a quiet residential street, isolated from through streets by large masonry buildings that front on Waterford Street and Garden Street. All but three of the houses on the street were built no later than 1900, and show a remarkable quality of workmanship, despite being diverse in their styles. A number of the houses are specifically associated with educators, including a number of Harvard University professors. The Edwin Abbot House at 1 Follen Street is now the main building of the Longy School of Music of Bard College, and is separately listed on the National Register. Other houses listed separately include the Theodore W. Richards House at 15 Follen, the Second Waterhouse House at 9 Follen, and 10 Follen Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hubbard Park Historic District</span> Historic district in Massachusetts, United States

The Hubbard Park Historic District encompasses a residential development and park west of Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The area was originally the estate of Gardiner Hubbard, who had a 6-acre (2.4 ha) estate and house on nearby Brattle Street. In the 1880s Hubbard commissioned architects to build a ring of high quality homes around his mansion, which was demolished in 1939 and is now the site of Hubbard Park. The houses in this development are now located on Mercer Circle, Sparks Street, and Hubbard Park Road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Cambridge Historic District</span> Historic district in Massachusetts, United States

The Old Cambridge Historic District is a historic district encompassing a residential neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts that dates to colonial times. It is located just west of Harvard Square, and includes all of the properties on Brattle Street west of Mason Street to Fresh Pond Parkway, all of the properties on Mason Street and Elmwood Avenue, and nearby properties on Craigie Street. The district includes five National Historic Landmarks: Elmwood, the Reginald A. Daly House, the Oliver Hastings House, the Mary Fiske Stoughton House, and the Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site, as well as several other houses listed separately on the National Register. The district follows the general route of the Watertown Path, an early colonial road that supposedly followed a Native American trail. This portion of the way became known as Tory Row during the American Revolution, because many of the fine mansions lining it were owned by Loyalists. In the 19th and early 20th centuries it continued by a fashionable location, and now features a number of architecturally significant buildings. It includes 215 contributing buildings and one other contributing sites over an area of 52 acres (21 ha). One included building is the Cambridge Historical Society's offices, which are in the NRHP-listed Hooper-Lee Nichols House, located at 159 Brattle Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sturbridge Common Historic District</span> Historic district in Massachusetts, United States

The Sturbridge Common Historic District encompasses the historic center of Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Encompassing some 138 acres (56 ha), the district is focused around the town common, which was laid out when the town established in 1738. The district is roughly linear, extending along Main Street from its junction with Interstate 84 eastward to Hall Road. The district also extends for short distances along Haynes, Maple, and Charlton Streets. Although most of the properties in the district are residential, the institutional properties, including the 1838 Greek Revival Town Hall, the 1896 Joshua Hyde Library building, and the 1922 Federated Church. The oldest building in the district is the c. 1772 Publick House, a tavern which has dominated the south side of the district since its construction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gardner Uptown Historic District</span> Historic district in Massachusetts, United States

The Gardner Uptown Historic District is a historic district encompassing the former civic heart of Gardner, Massachusetts. The 65-acre (26 ha) area includes the old town common, an early cemetery, and a modest number of non-residential buildings among a larger number of houses. The area was the center of civic life from the incorporation of Gardner in 1785 until municipal functions were moved to West Gardner beginning in the late 1920s. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shrewsbury Historic District (Shrewsbury, Massachusetts)</span> Historic district in Massachusetts, United States

The Shrewsbury Historic District encompasses the historic early center of the town of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. It consists of the town common, laid out in 1721 at what are now Main and Prospect Streets, and buildings adjacent or nearby. The district was declared locally in 1972, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newbury Historic District</span> Historic district in Massachusetts, United States

The Newbury Historic District encompasses the historic town center of Newbury, Massachusetts. Centered on the town's upper green, the area has a history of more than 350 years, and includes buildings dating to the 17th century. It extends from the green northward on High Street to the town line with Newburyport. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common Historic District (Reading, Massachusetts)</span> Historic district in Massachusetts, United States

The Common Historic District is a historic district encompassing the civic and institutional heart of Reading, Massachusetts. The district is centered on the town common, at the intersection of Main and Salem Streets. The common has been communally owned since at least 1737, with the original burying ground to the north. In 1769 the area's first meeting house was built, giving the area a sense of identity separate from portions of Reading that would later be set off as Wakefield and North Reading. Since then the area has become a focal point for religious and civic institutions in the town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baptist Society Meeting House</span> Historic church in Massachusetts, United States

The Baptist Society Meeting House is a historic former Baptist meeting house in Arlington, Massachusetts. Built in 1790, it is the town's oldest surviving church building. Now in residential use, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Common Historic District</span> Historic district in Massachusetts, United States

The South Common Historic District of Lowell, Massachusetts, encompasses the city's South Common and the various public, religious, and private residential buildings that flank its borders. The South Common, about 22.5 acres (9.1 ha) in size, was purchased by the city in 1845 in an auction by the Proprietors of Locks and Canals, who owned much of the city's industrial area. Although the common was landscaped, it was not apparently done so to a plan. It quickly became lined with fashionable residences, and several iconic public buildings, including the 1850 courthouse, a Romantic Revival structure designed by Ammi Young, and a series of Gothic Revival churches. Highland Avenue was built out with a series of fine Italianate houses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brattle Street Church</span> Church building in Massachusetts, United States

The Brattle Street Church (1698–1876) was a Congregational and Unitarian church on Brattle Street in Boston, Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brattle Street (Cambridge, Massachusetts)</span> Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US

Brattle Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, called the "King's Highway" or "Tory Row" before the American Revolutionary War, is the site of many buildings of historical interest, including the modernist glass-and-concrete building that housed the Design Research store, and a Georgian mansion where George Washington and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow both lived, as well as John Vassall and his seven slaves including Darby Vassall. Samuel Atkins Eliot, writing in 1913 about the seven Colonial mansions of Brattle Street's "Tory Row," called the area "not only one of the most beautiful but also one of the most historic streets in America." "As a fashionable address it is doubtful if any other residential street in this country has enjoyed such long and uninterrupted prestige."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Burying Ground (Cambridge, Massachusetts)</span> Historic cemetery in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, U.S.

The Old Burying Ground, or Old Burial Ground, is a historic cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, located just outside Harvard Square. The cemetery opened in 1635.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oakham Center Historic District</span> Historic district in Massachusetts, United States

The Oakham Center Historic District encompasses a portion of the historic town center of Oakham, Massachusetts. Roughly bounded by Coldbrook Rd., Maple St., Barre Rd., and Deacon Allen Drive, the area was formed as a civic center about 1770, with town incorporation following in 1775. It includes a well-preserved variety of early 19th-century residential architecture, as well as the town's Greek Revival Congregational church, and its 1908 library. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 "NRHP nomination for Cambridge Common Historic District (1987 amendment)". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  3. Cicely, Rev. Brattle's slave, was buried in the Old Burying Ground of Cambridge. The slate headstone reads "Here lyes the body of Cicely, Negro, late Servant to the Reverend Minister William Brattle; she died April 8. 1714. Being 15 years old."