Old Cambridge Historic District

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Old Cambridge Historic District
St. John's Chapel, Episcopal Divinity School, West Cambridge MA.jpg
St. John's Chapel
Episcopal Divinity School
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Location Cambridge, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°22′37″N71°8′25″W / 42.37694°N 71.14028°W / 42.37694; -71.14028
Area52 acres (21 ha)
Architectural styleLate 19th and 20th century Revivals, Greek Revival, Late Victorian
MPS Cambridge MRA
NRHP reference No. 83000821 [1]
Added to NRHPJune 30, 1983

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. [2] 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. [3]

Contents

The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1983. [1] It abuts a number of other historic districts, including the Cambridge Common Historic District, the Ash Street Historic District, and the Berkeley Street Historic District. [2]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. 1 2 "MACRIS inventory record for Old Cambridge Historic District". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
  3. "Cambridge Historical Society". Archived from the original on August 17, 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2009.