In Progress...
Harvard Station, Red Line, Boston's T
Coming from Downtown Crossing, take the Red Line Train to Alewife 5 stops (about 10 Minutes), and get off the T at Harvard. You can come out the station a few different exits, all on Massachusetts Ave.
One exit for Harvard Square for dining & westbound transfers, and one on Church St, near the Johnson Gate to Harvard, for the University & northbound transfers. Whichever way you choose, look for the Church Steeple, walk towards the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church, away from the business district.
First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church, Built 1833, also known as the Fifth Meeting House.
The First Meeting House in Cambridge, MA was right outside the Harvard Square Station, at Massachusetts Ave & Dunster St. Probably at the site of today's Cambridge Savings Bank.
The first Minister, Thomas Hooker, left in 1636 to escape religious persecution from the Mass. puritans, and he founded Connecticut Colony. After Hooker left, it became the First Church of Cambridge. Rev. Thomas Shepard convinced Massachusetts Bay Colony leaders to build their first University across the Street, and in 1636 Harvard University was created.
The First Harvard College building was built in 1638 & stood until 1670.
Cambridge, 1668 - Facing SouthWest from atop Harvard Yard 1. The Second Meeting House, 2. Harvard College, 3. House of the Minister Thomas Shepard, 4. Market Square, 5. Creek Lane with road to Watertown, 6. Town Wharf and Ferry Landing, 7. Causeway through the Marsh, 8. The Great Bridge across the Charles River 9. First School House
The Second Meeting House was built in 1652, across the street on the site of Harvard's Lehman Hall. The Third Meeting House was built on the same site in 1706. In the photo above, we can see the site is on a hill, referred to as "Watchmen's Hill", not on level ground like today, but perhaps the street level was raised for the Subway in 1912.
In 1925, Harvard's Lehman Hall was built on the site of the former 2nd & 3rd Meeting Houses. This view taken from Brattle Square, facing Harvard Square Station & Lehman Hall.
In 1680, Rev. William Brattle graduated from Harvard University and became the rector at the Second Meeting House. He moved from Calvinism to a more liberal theology. He attracted many to Cambridge & Harvard, and as far back as 1692 the road from Watertown Square to Harvard Square has been named Brattle St. It meets with Mt Auburn Rd out in West Cambridge, but also ends at Mt Auburn Rd in Brattle Square, directly in line with Harvard Square & Lehman Hall, the site of the 2nd Meeting House where he preached until 1717.
British General Thomas Gage, Governor of Montreal & Massachusetts Bay
Rev. Brattle's son, also named William Brattle, would graduate from Harvard in 1722. He served 21 terms as Cambridge Select Person, and also served as Assemblyman and Attorney General of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He was commander at Boston's Fort William during French & Indian War. By 1771, he was the Major General for Massachusetts Militia and was involved with the Sons of Liberty (Samuel Adams), but he was a British Loyalist and alerted British Governor Thomas Gage in 1774. He was confronted by future President John Adams, and fled back to Fort William on Castle Island, and occupied the British Fort during the Siege of Boston. After the siege, he fled to Nova Scotia in 1776 and remained there until his death, an American traitor. Gen. Gage also fled back to England.
William Brattle House, 1727, 42 Brattle St, Tory Row. 1 of 7 original Mansions on Tory Row in Cambridge, named Brattle St after Rev. Brattle. The house sits across from the Harvard Bus Tunnel South Exit, at Brattle Square, one block from the Third Meeting House/Lehman Hall.
John Adams visited here in 1776 on his way to Philadelphia to sign the Declaration of Independence, after the second William Brattle fled to Nova Scotia.
In 1756, the Fourth Meeting House was built at Mass Ave & Church St, on the site of today's First Parish. In 1775, George Washington worshipped on site at the Fourth Meeting House (Harvard Yard) while commanding the Army after Lexington & Concord, MA. The British occupied Christ Church down the street, as we will see below. Fourth Meeting House was used until 1829 and in 1833 replaced by today's Fifth Meeting House.
In September 1779, the Fourth Meeting House hosted the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention. John Adams drafted the document, with support from Samuel Adams and James Bowdoin. Adams referred to Massachusetts as a Commonwealth rather than a state.
#MassachusettsFirst became the first state in the US, and the first slave to end slavery, and was an early abolitionist hub. Adams wrote "All men are born equally free & independent..." but the Convention had it altered to read "All men are born free & equal..."
Article I. All men are born free and equal and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights; among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties; that of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness.
Learn more about #MassachusettsFirst abolitionist history, as well as the first desegregated schools in the nation in our article Walking the Black Heritage Trail on Historic Beacon Hill, Boston's Underground Rail Road & African American History Museum.
Former Continental Congress President & 1st signer of the Declaration of Independence, John Hancock of Beacon Hill was elected as the 1st Governor of Commonwealth of Massachusetts and served until 1785. Re-elected in 1787 as the 3rd Governor of Massachusetts he was responsible for convincing Massachusetts to ratify the Constitution in 1789, and unsuccessfully ran for President against George Washington. When he died as Governor in 1793, Hancock Manor was donated to build the Massachusetts State House on Beacon Hill. Samuel Adams moved in as the Fourth Governor, serving until 1797.
Fifth Meeting House remains the First Parish in Cambridge, because the parishioners can trace their continuity all the way back to the First Meeting House, down the street in 1632. Everything we just mentioned is directly related to the history of the church. For about 200 years, until 1833, the First Parish operated as the center of governance for Cambridge, MA.
Illustration - September 1836 procession of Harvard alumni leaving the First Parish Meeting House and walking to the Pavilion - by the daughter of Harvard President, Josiah Quincy III
This is most likely the actual Washington Elm Tree where George Washington took over command of the Continental Army in 1775, we will learn more about that later.
In 1837, Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson gave his famous "American Scholar" address here at the Fifth Meeting House at the First Parish Church.
While facing First Parish, you'll be across the street from the Main Gates to Harvard
(Though there are many lesser used gates to access the Campus from different streets, mostly from the 1800's by Class of 18xx etc). Before we enjoy Harvard, we will explore the green space in Cambridge right outside the University.
In front of the Church is General MacArthur Square with a statue of Sen. Charles Sumner.
Sumner & his father were both Harvard Law graduates. Sumner was from Beacon Hill, near the Hancock Mansion. Boston (Specifically Beacon Hill) was a well-known center in the Abolitionist Movement and Underground Railroad Hub. Sumner linked up with Gov. John Andrew, Frederick Douglass, and other abolitionists, like the first 2 Black Representatives in Massachusetts (Lewis Hayden & John J Smith). Most Southern Democrats were pro-slavery, so Sumner was a Whig, and later a FreeSoil Democrat, ally of NY's Martin van Buren. As we will soon see, he was partially responsible for creating the anti-slavery Republican Party , and later became a Radical Republican, critical of the Lincoln-Johnson Union after the Civil War. Sen. Sumner was featured in our article Walking the Black Heritage Trail on Historic Beacon Hill, Boston's Underground Railroad & African American History Museum
Learn More about Senator Charles Sumner, who was nearly caned to death on the Congress Floor, while pro-slavery Democrats held Congress at gunpoint, in 1856. He gave his speech "The Crime Against Kansas" for opposing the Democrat-led slave state movement in Kansas & Nebraska. Also, in 1856, the Republican Party was founded as an anti-slavery party, and their first nominee Abraham Lincoln would win the next election in 1860, throwing the US into Civil War, when Southern Democrats seceded and recognized Jefferson Davis as President. Perhaps Democrats caning their comrades publicly and holding their fellow Congressmen hostage at gunpoint didn't sit too well with the rest of the country... Sumner is the first Senator to develop a LEGITIMATELY diagnosed PTSD from Washington DC, even though 440+ members of US Senate & House are traumatized daily by DC politics. :-)
The square is named after General Douglas MacArthur, born in Little Rock, Arkansas but raised in San Antonio, Texas. MacArthur was the Chief of Staff for the US Army in the 1930's, until his retirement in 1937. He came out of retirement in 1941 to lead the US Army in the Far East, the Pacific Theatre. He was kicked out of the Philippines by Japanese invaders during the Bataan Death March. He operated the Southwest Pacific Battalion from Australia and returned to the Philippines in 1945 and forced Japan into surrender. He remained in the Philippines from 1945-1951 overseeing the establishment of an independent country, from the former US Territory. He also spent much of that time in Tokyo, overseeing the International Military Tribunal (Far East Nuremberg Trials), and working with Emperor Hirohito to overcome spread of Communism from China. He became Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces. In 1948, he decided to run against Pres. Truman as the GOP nominee, so Truman withdrew him from Tokyo, just prior to the Korean War. In 1951, at 71 years old, he returned to the US as a National Hero and Medal of Honor recipient, popular enough to run for President. (The next election would see GOP Gen. Eisenhower defeat Truman) MacArthur was invited to nearly every state in the country. Boston held the biggest welcome-home celebration for MacArthur in the country, as over 500,000 people surrounded South Station for his arrival by train. Legends recall up to 2 Million people in attendance, but newspapers at the time settled at over 500,000 but less than 1 Million, including the Harvard Crimson. MacArthur would even be an adviser for Massachusetts own JFK while President in 1961 (Age 81) before dying in 1965.
Cross up the street to Flagstaff Park, you will see the tall monument for the American Revolution.
There is a Secret Tunnel to Brattle Square coming out of the ground if you follow the Trolley Cables overhead. Be careful, watch for outgoing buses! There used to be Trolley Stations underground at many Subway T stops in Boston, before city buses were common. The trolley cables can be seen going into the ground in Flagstaff Park and go completely under the street and some of the University, and they come out of the ground in the restaurant district in Brattle Square, a few blocks away.
Alternatively, if you are in the restaurant district in Brattle Square, you can see where the buses come from the underground tunnel to start the run Westbound. I imagine this used to, or still does, connect to the T station somehow. Google Maps lists this as "Harvard Bus Tunnel." Nowadays, we catch multiple Buses above ground about 5-10 minute walk from the Harvard T stop, mostly West of Harvard Square.
Learn more about Harvard Square & Cambridge being the transit hub from Boston & Charlestown to western suburbs like Watertown & Mt Auburn here where we examine the History of Boston's T, Oldest Subway in US and examine Harvard's history as a transport hub.
Ignoring the underground tunnel, we cross Massachusetts Ave on the Left to Cambridge Common. We see the Civil War Monument towering over the middle of the park, but wait....
As far back as 1630, Cambridge was the halfway mark between settlements in Charlestown & Watertown. Following the directions on the sign, we start in Charlestown around Lechmere Station. Somerville Ave may have been part of today's Mass Rt. 28 going into Boston at one point, but the damming of the Charles River and creation of Back Bay has altered the land greatly from how it used to look in 1630. Leaving Lechmere you head NW on Somerville Ave, to Union Square in Somerville, MA. Turn Left on Washington St (Not to be confused with Boston's Washington St which was the only road into Boston from the South until the damming of the Back Bay.). Stay on Washington St to Ward Two, where Somerville ends, and Cambridge begins, and Washington St becomes Kirkland St. Kirkland St goes right through the middle of Harvard University and comes out at Cambridge Common at this very marker. Go left on Mass Ave 1 block to Harvard Square, stay right onto Brattle St, and follow it until it merges with Mt. Auburn St and ends at Watertown Square on the Charles River. As stated, in 1636 Thomas Hooker left the First Parish of Cambridge for religious freedom and rode this trail to Watertown on his way to found New Canaan (Hartford) of the Connecticut Colony.
Cambridge Common is known for gatherings to protest, and they usually end up marching this same trail down to Boston Common, about 90 Minutes, and unite for bigger protests.
Gift of the Wind, Porter Square,15-minute walk (1-Mile) North from Harvard Square.
Cambridge Common was a green space that originally stretched a mile up Mass Ave to your right and ended around Porter Square. Today only 0.2 Miles each to your right and left remain. Porter Square became the next T stop, north of Harvard, when the Red Line was extended past Harvard in 1985.
Porter Square is one of 2 places who claim to have coined the phrase "Porterhouse Steak" to refer to an oversized T-Bone Steak in the early 1800's (The other was Pearl St, Manhattan). Zachariah Porter (1797-1864) owned the Porter House Hotel at what was then known as Union Square. It was renamed Porter Square in his honor in 1899.
Around present-day Lancaster St (Half a Mile to the North), was Gallows Hill. This was Cambridge's public hanging ground since 1638. In 1755, 2 slaves were killed here, one hung from the Gallows and one burned at the stake (It's a Massachusetts Thing...) These were the last executions there and Cambridge Common was shortened by 5 blocks, to nearby Linnaean St in 1770. Cambridge Common was shortened by a half-mile to what we know today by 1837, when the Cloverden House was built one block North of the park.
Today, most of the former land is residential, as well as part of Harvard's off-campus housing, a children's botanical garden, and Radcliffe University (1901). The Radcliffe Quadrangle is a famous cluster of off-campus housing for Harvard undergrads. The rest of the 12 Undergrad houses are south of Harvard Square, near the Charles River, known as the River Houses. North of Cambridge Common, just south of Gallows Hill (today known as Avon Hill) we find the oldest house in Cambridge, the Cooper-Frost-Austin House from 1681. A children's nursery home lies very near to, if not on the exact location of the gallows.
Our first monument is on the far right of the Common (NE). John Bridge was born in Braintree, Essex County, England in 1578. He arrived in Cambridge, MA in 1631 with Thomas Hooker and helped establish the First Parish Church. He stayed when Hooker left to found CT in 1632 and recruited Rev. Thomas Shepard from England. Bridge was also responsible for establishing the First Public School of Cambridge in 1635. He later became a Select Person for MA, an early Representative title such as the one John Hancock would hold 100 years later. He was also responsible in founding Braintree, MA & other settlements in New Towne, MA (Greater Cambridge). The statue is referred to as "The Puritan". It was dedicated by Samuel Bridge in 1882. Samuel also dedicated the John Harvard Statue we will learn more about later. In the 1880's, many other Puritan/Pilgrim themed statues were dedicated in the former Colonies, like "The Puritan" in Springfield, MA, and "The Pilgrim" found both in Philadelphia & NYC Central Park. This one is the first monument to Puritans in the US.
Turn back Left (SW), and head towards the middle of the park to the Civil War Monument.
You will see the Green where Ben Affleck & Matt Damon met playing football in the mid-80's
From the front of the Monument walk to the left (W), and we will come across the Washington Elm.
Cannons
Washington's Orders
Washington Elm
In this 1808 view from the North End of Cambridge Common facing South to Harvard Square, we can see that there are no trees in the entire park except for tall tree in the middle of the photo. Find the American Revolution Monument in Flagstaff Park in the middle of the photo, and just to the right, the tree at the end of the path. This is most likely Dawes Island, and this was the Washington Elm before it was moved to create an intersection. Harvard College is on the Left and Christ Church (1760) on the far right. We will learn more about Christ Church soon. Notice there is no Civil War statue or any other monument either.
Casimir Pulaski
Thaddeus Kosciuzko
If you walk 2 blocks to the right, and take a right on Brattle St, you will cross through Lesley University, and find the Longfellow House. This was Washington's Headquarters during the Siege of Boston in '75 & '76.
Back at the Washington Elm, walk down the West path back towards Harvard and we will pass a Monument for the Irish Hunger Famine. It was dedicated in 1997 by Irish President Mary Robinson.
Across the street to the right is Christ Church Episcopal dating back to 1759. The Church was occupied by the British Troops in Winter 1775, yet Martha Washington still requested New Years service on Dec. 31, 1775 and sent a special request to the King. The Church was closed until 1790, and it did not have a full time rector until 1829. By 1857, Congregation was so big the Church was expanded for more parishioners.
In 1879, one of the Sunday School teachers was fired for embracing Dutch Reform. He was NY's own Theodore Roosevelt, future President of the United States, Harvard Class of 1880.
Continue back to the beginning of Cambridge Common, and cross Dawes Island back to MacArthur Square, and use the bathroom if you dare!
Dawes Island is named after William Dawes, who was one of 3 men who made a "Midnight Run" to alert the Colonists that "The British Are Coming" on April 18-19, 1775. Most people are familiar with Paul Revere who rode from Boston's North End to Charlestown, along the Mystic River past British lines to Somerville, Medford & Arlington and linked up with Dawes and Dr. Samuel Prescott to alert Concord, MA. William Dawes also left South Boston, rode through Roxbury, Brookline & Brighton, crossed the Charles River into Cambridge and continued North past Arlington to Lexington where he met with Revere. Dr. Joseph Warren sent Revere & Dawes to meet John Hancock & Samuel Adams. If Revere had been captured, we would never know his name, but the results would be the same as Dawes also completed the journey to deliver the news. Nearby is a marker depicting where he rode through Cambridge on his way to Lexington & Concord. In 1767, Dawes was one of 250 Boston natives who refused to buy British Goods, and basically started the "Buy American" movement. Dawes was also a Son of Liberty and a Freemason. Samuel Adams led the Sons of Liberty and Paul Revere would become the Grand Master Mason in Boston about 15 years after the Revolution. After his Midnight Ride, Dawes joined the Continental Army, fighting in the Battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775, and fleeing to Worcester, during the Siege of Boston.
Looking across the street to your right, away from Harvard, you will see the "Old Burying Ground" dating back to 1635. It is nestled between First Parish Church of 1632 and the Christ Church of 1760. Old Burying Ground was the only cemetery in Cambridge for over 200 years, so everyone from local slaves to the President of Harvard were buried next to each other in poorly marked graves. Some gravestones from 1600's still remain today.
Back at First Parish Church, we cross the street to Johnson Gate to enter Harvard University at the East Campus . Through Harvard Yard to Science Center Plaza, cross over to West Campus, circle back to Harvard Square for Lunch, Happy Hour or Dinner & Drinks.
BONUS
Lechmere Square is the first Neighborhood in Cambridge after leaving Boston's West End. It is separated from nearby Bunker Hill & Charlestown by Highway 28 & the Orange Line, and separated from Boston by the Charles River. Today we reach Lechmere Square from the Green Line at North Station. Richard Lechmere was a British Loyalist who lived here during the American Revolution. He allowed the British to land here to invade Lexington & Concord in 1775, which led to Revere & Dawes Midnight Runs. It was a strategic point during the Battle of Bunker Hill, but Lechmere fled to England during the Siege of Boston. Lechmere was also a Department store chain based out of Cambridge from 1913-1997 that was affiliated with Montgomery Ward.
Just SW of Lechmere is Kendall Square/MIT, the first stop on the Red Line after crossing the Charles River from Boston's West End. Kendall Square is the first of 5 Squares on the Red Line. Kendall Square is a booming Restaurant & Arts District right near the MIT Campus.
Kendall Square's motto is " Where Innovation, imagination & ingenuity thrive." Google has one of their larger offices here employing 2,000 locals, plus MIT Internships.
Kendall was the site of the first Ferry crossing from Boston to Cambridge as far back as 1630.
When the West Boston Bridge was built in 1793, daily travel between Cambridge & Boston was alot easier, and the Northern Suburbs of Boston became more populated. By 1856, the Cambridge Railroad had setup stagecoach lines from Bowdoin Square (near Beacon Hill, Boston) to Harvard Square. They became electric streetcars in 1889.
In 1906, the West Boston Bridge was replaced with the Longfellow Bridge, who locals today call the "salt & Pepper Bridge" because the pillars remind them of shakers.
In 1916, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) moved here from across the river at Back Bay. In 1861, Gov. John Andrew (of Beacon Hill) authorized the Massachusetts Conservancy of Art & Science, which later became Boston Tech. The Civil War happened during planning, and the University was hurriedly built in the newly formed Back Bay. Back Bay became a residential neighborhood, and Boston Tech moved across the river, becoming MIT. Harvard tried to acquire MIT but in 1917 Supreme Court declared anti-trust violation.
Building 10, The Great Dome, MIT, Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA
MIT is really artsy, here is the Stata Center, a Linguistics building.
Next stop is Central Square, centrally located between Kendall & Harvard Square. Central Square is the commercial district of Cambridge, while Harvard Square & Kendall Square are the Education districts. Just south of Central Square is Historic Cambridgeport aka "The Old Port" on the Charles River. Central Square was originally an English & Canadian neighborhood, until the Irish Potato Famine brought many to the Boston area. Over the last 100 years, a lot of South Americans, Africans & West Indians moved to Central Square. It is also where Ben Affleck was raised.
(Left) Cambridge City Hall, built in 1888, is in Central Square, and bears a striking resemblance to my City Hall in Albany, NY (Right). Cambridge City Hall is 3 stories tall, and the Bell Tower is 158 Feet High, while Albany City Hall has a 208-foot Bell Tower.
Richard B. Modica Way aka "Graffiti Alley", Public Art Space, Central Square
Cambridge Fire Department Engine #5 - Inman Square, Somerville, MA
Walking to the North you will find Inman Square at the Somerville Border on Cambridge St halfway between Lechmere and Harvard Square. Inman Square has a heavy Brazilian and Portuguese influence, similar to Watertown Square. The area is a hub for stand-up comedy hosting well-known comedians and even discovering "Late Night's" Jay Leno.
Further North of Inman Square is Union Square where Somerville Ave meets Washington St on the "Road to Charles Towne". Named after a Union Army training ground during the Civil War, the military history dates further back to the "Citadel" at Prospect Hill, where the Continental Army were able to observe Boston & Charlestown after losing at the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. In 1843, Union Square became the first stop on the Fitchburg Railroad (still active today), heading 90 Minutes NW of Boston towards the border of Central New Hampshire. In 1846, a line was added to Harvard Square. Fitchburg Line serves our whole area from Boston to Somerville, Cambridge, Belmont & Waltham.
Back south at Central Square, we can explore nearby Lafayette Square.
Just down the block is MIT.
Back on the Red Line, next stop is Harvard Square.
One stop North of Harvard is Porter Square, followed by Davis Square at the Somerville Line.
Off the red line we can find nearby Teele Square, Powder House Square & Magoon Square, surrounding Tufts University in West Somerville. In East Somerville, the Orange Line serves Sullivan Square & Assembly Square, near the Charlestown Border.
Back at Harvard Square, we can find Quincy & Market Squares 2 blocks East at Harvard St. Heading south from Harvard Square we come across Brattle Square, and the next block is Winthrop Square. Followed by Charles Square and Harvard's Kennedy School & JFK Memorial Waterfront Park.
Headed into West Cambridge, first site is Mt. Auburn Cemetery. Next stop is the Arsenal on the Charles River in East Watertown. Slightly further West is Watertown Square at the Watertown Bridge which cross into Nonantum. Follow the river West to Waltham. From Waltham, you can head North into Belmont for Waverley Square. Head East for Cambridge's Fresh Pond. A slight walk ride North and we are at Alewife Station to take the Red Line back into Boston!
Center Square
Yorumlar