The Port, formerly Area 4, is a neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts, roughly between Central Square, Inman Square, and MIT. It is bounded on the south by Massachusetts Avenue, on the west by Prospect Street, on the north by Hampshire Street, and on the east by the Grand Junction Railroad tracks. [1] Area 4 is a densely populated residential neighborhood with about 7,000 residents.
Prior to the filling in [2] of the Charles River marshes in the late 19th century, brackish saltwater reached into the eastern and southern edges of the area known as Cambridgeport. After landfill allowed Cambridge to expand east, the former riverside area became known as the "Old Port" or simply as "the Port". [3] The east side includes Portland Street and, in its northern industrial area, the terminus of the Broad Canal from the Charles River.
To analyze the 1950 census, Cambridge split the city into 13 statistical zones, and the old Cambridgeport neighborhood was split into two zones, Area 4 and Area 5, divided by Massachusetts Avenue. Later those census zones were rolled over into official planning districts by the Cambridge Community Development department. [4] The "Cambridgeport" name went to Area 5, whose southern end still reached the Charles; the inland Area 4 never received an official designation, as the planning districts were never meant to define neighborhood boundaries. For decades, Area 4 was one of only two planning districts to lack an official name (the other, neighborhood nine, still lacks one). Neighborhood and other Cambridge residents continued to refer to the area as the Port. [3]
Community organizations petitioned the Cambridge City Manager, in 2003 and 2013, [5] to restore "The Port" as the official name of the Area 4 planning district [6] for official documentation. On October 19, 2015, after the process had commenced the March prior, it was announced at a City Council meeting that Area 4 would officially adopt the poll-selected name, "The Port". The change was driven in great part by Vice-Mayor Dennis Benzan, who grew up in Area 4 and was crucial in ensuring that the adoptive name be selected through a community-based decision. [7]
Elias Howe, Jr. invented the sewing machine at 55 Cherry Street in The Port in 1846. Howe's was the first patented functional sewing machine. Isaac Singer, who made sewing machines commercially successful, was forced to pay patent royalties to Howe. [8]
The Port was the site of the first reciprocal telephone conversation, which took place between Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas A. Watson on October 9, 1876. Watson was at an office in The Port, and Bell was at an office on Cambridge Street in Boston. A plaque commemorating this event is mounted at 710 Main Street near the Windsor Street intersection.
The Port was the early hub of the candy industry in the United States, beginning with the first candy factory in Cambridge, started by Robert Douglass in 1826 on Windsor Street. Notable candy factories in The Port included Cambridge Brands, makers of Junior Mints, still in operation on Main Street; the Squirrel Brands company, makers of Squirrel nut caramel (the inspiration for the band name Squirrel Nut Zippers); and Necco (New England Confectionery Company), whose factory located across Massachusetts Avenue from today's Port was the largest candy factory in the world.
Per city data, in 2005, Area 4 had a population of 7,263 residents living in 2,523 households. The average household income was $34,306. [1] In 2000, the racial demographics for the neighborhood were 45.9% White, 35.4% Black, 15.7% Hispanic origin, 8.2% Asian/Pacific Islander, 0.2% Native American, 7.3% other race. [11]
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the most populous city in the county, the fourth-largest in Massachusetts behind Boston, Worcester, and Springfield, and ninth-most populous in New England. The city was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England, which was an important center of the Puritan theology that was embraced by the town's founders.
Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The area's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, the Hudson River and West Street to the west, and Sixth Avenue to the east, with its northern boundary variously described as near the upper 20s or 34th Street, the next major crosstown street to the north. To the northwest of Chelsea is the neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen, as well as Hudson Yards; to the northeast are the Garment District and the remainder of Midtown South; to the east are NoMad and the Flatiron District; to the southwest is the Meatpacking District; and to the south and southeast are the West Village and the remainder of Greenwich Village. Chelsea was named for an estate in the area, which in turn was named for the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London.
Elias Howe Jr. was an American inventor best known for his creation of the modern lockstitch sewing machine.
Back Bay is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the availability in the city at the time, and the area was fully built by around 1900. It is most famous for its rows of Victorian brownstone homes—considered one of the best preserved examples of 19th-century urban design in the United States—as well as numerous architecturally significant individual buildings, and cultural institutions such as the Boston Public Library, and Boston Architectural College. Initially conceived as a residential-only area, commercial buildings were permitted from around 1890, and Back Bay now features many office buildings, including the John Hancock Tower, Boston's tallest skyscraper. It is also considered a fashionable shopping destination and home to several major hotels.
Squirrel Hill is a residential neighborhood in the East End of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The city officially divides it into two neighborhoods, Squirrel Hill North and Squirrel Hill South, but it is almost universally treated as a single neighborhood.
East Williamsburg is a name for the area in the northwestern portion of Brooklyn, New York City, United States. East Williamsburg consists roughly of what was the 3rd District of the Village of Williamsburgh and what is now called the East Williamsburg In-Place Industrial Park (EWIPIP), bounded by the neighborhoods of Northside and Southside Williamsburg to the west, Greenpoint to the north, Bushwick to the south and southeast, and both Maspeth and Ridgewood in Queens to the east. Much of this area is still referred to as either Bushwick, Williamsburg, or Greenpoint with the term East Williamsburg falling out of use since the 1990s.
Dorchester is a neighborhood comprising more than 6 square miles (16 km2) in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Originally, Dorchester was a separate town, founded by Puritans who emigrated in 1630 from Dorchester, Dorset, England, to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This dissolved municipality, Boston's largest neighborhood by far, is often divided by city planners in order to create two planning areas roughly equivalent in size and population to other Boston neighborhoods.
Central Square is an area in Cambridge, Massachusetts centered on the junction of Massachusetts Avenue, Prospect Street and Western Avenue. Lafayette Square, formed by the junction of Massachusetts Avenue, Columbia Street, Sidney Street and Main Street, is also considered a part of the Central Square area. Harvard Square is to the northwest along Massachusetts Avenue, Inman Square is to the north along Prospect Street and Kendall Square is to the east along Main Street. The section of Central Square along Massachusetts Avenue between Clinton Street and Main Street is designated the Central Square Historic District, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
Allston is an officially recognized neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was named after the American painter and poet Washington Allston. It comprises the land covered by the zip code 02134. For the most part, Allston is administered collectively with the adjacent neighborhood of Brighton. The two are often referred to together as Allston–Brighton. Boston Police Department District D-14 covers the Allston-Brighton area and a Boston Fire Department Allston station is located in Union Square which houses Engine 41 and Ladder 14. Engine 41 is nicknamed "The Bull" to commemorate the historic stockyards of Allston.
Cambridgeport is one of the neighborhoods of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is bounded by Massachusetts Avenue, the Charles River, the Grand Junction Railroad, and River Street. The neighborhood contains predominantly residential homes, many of the triple decker style common in New England. Central Square, at the northernmost part of Cambridgeport, is an active commercial district and transportation hub, and University Park is a collection of renovated or recently constructed office and apartment buildings. The neighborhood also includes Fort Washington Park, several MIT buildings, and Magazine Beach.
Kensington is a neighborhood in Philadelphia that belongs to Lower Northeast. As with all neighborhoods in the city, the lack of any official designation means the boundaries of the area vary between sources over time and are disputed among locals. Kensington, as most long-term residents view it, refers generally to the area consisting of Kensington, East Kensington, West Kensington, and Harrowgate. The adjacent Fairhill and Norris Square neighborhoods are more separate but may be included in Kensington; Fishtown and South (Olde) Kensington were historically included. The most conservative boundaries of the neighborhood, shown in the map below, are Front Street and 5th Street to the west, the Amtrak train tracks to the North, Trenton Avenue, the Trenton Avenue train tracks, and Frankford Avenue to the east, and Cecil B. Moore Avenue to the south.
North Philadelphia, nicknamed North Philly, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is immediately north of Center City. Though the full extent of the region is somewhat vague, "North Philadelphia" is regarded as everything north of either Vine Street or Spring Garden Street, between Northwest Philadelphia and Northeast Philadelphia. It is bordered to the north by Olney Ave along Broad Street, Spring Garden Street to the south, 35th Street to the west and Adams Avenue to the east. The Philadelphia Police Department patrols five districts located within North Philadelphia: the 22nd, 25th, 26th, 35th and 39th districts. There are thirteen ZIP codes for North Philadelphia: 19120, 19121, 19122, 19123, 19125, 19126, 19130, 19132, 19133, 19134, 19137, 19140 and 19141.
Necco was an American manufacturer of candy created in 1901 as the New England Confectionery Company through the merger of several small confectionery companies located in the Greater Boston area, with ancestral companies dating back to the 1840s.
Squirrel Nut Caramels and Squirrel Nut Zippers were chewy caramel candy mixed with peanuts.
University Park at MIT is a mixed-use urban renewal project in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, occupying land near Central Square between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) campus and the primarily residential neighborhood of Cambridgeport. It is a joint project of the City of Cambridge, MIT, and Brookfield Asset Management. It is not part of the MIT campus.
The neighborhoods of Hartford, Connecticut in the United States are varied and historic.
The Margaret Fuller House was the birthplace and childhood home of American transcendentalist Margaret Fuller (1810–1850). It is located at 71 Cherry Street, in the Old Cambridgeport Historic District area of Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the neighborhood now called "The Port". The house is now a National Historic Landmark.
The Salem–Auburn Streets Historic District is a residential historic district at Salem and Auburn Streets in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The district includes a collection of houses that is among the oldest in the Cambridgeport section of the city, and includes most of the houses on two blocks of these streets. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
For primary schools named "Cambridge" see: Cambridge Elementary School (disambiguation)
Tyler Howe was an American inventor and manufacturer who developed the first box-spring bed.
Places adjacent to The Port, Cambridge | ||||||||||||||||
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