History · Cambridge

Cambridge has 204 places on the National Register, 17 of them National Historic Landmarks

Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns · #20 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it

Dated to 1630 (Wikidata), with 47% of its homes built before 1940 and 34 historic districts holding 1,332 contributing buildings. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, the census since 1790, and every listing on the Register.

1630founded

204on the National Register

47%homes built before 1940

4old photos & papers

25famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Cambridge’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Cambridge began

When was Cambridge founded?

1630

Cambridge dates its founding to 1630 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 2,115 in 17902020 census: 118,403396 years

How historic is Cambridge?

A⁺

Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1802.The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Cambridge’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cambridge is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #20 of 283 in Massachusetts. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A⁺

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cambridge’s overall grade.

Founding era1630, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA⁺Homes built before 194047.0% of homes (±1.2) · typical MA town 21.1% · U.S. 8.4%A⁺National Register204 listings, 1,332 historic buildings, 112 per 10,000 residents · typical MA town 46.0 · U.S. 2.4A⁻

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Among the top 1%

NewerOlder

Massachusetts towns of 2,500+ (283)Ahead of 93%

Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Cambridge ranks #16 on History.

Massachusetts towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Massachusetts town has 46.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Cambridge’s 112 sits near the middle of its state (65% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 1,332 historic buildings outnumber those of 99% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1630.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A+. The pre-1940 share (±1.2 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Cambridge’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A National Historic Landmark204 places on the National Register, 17 of them National Historic Landmarks.A historic districtThe Old Cambridge Historic District takes in 215 historic buildings.Older than the countryEstablished in 1630, 146 years before the Declaration of Independence.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Cambridge, and 10 old place names are still on the map.

★ What stands out · On the National Register

204 listings protect 1,332 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. 17 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed

204

National Historic Landmarks

Asa Gray House

historic buildings protected

1,332

each building in a district counts

first listed

1966

Asa Gray House

BuildingsDistrictsSitesStructuresObjects★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival55

Federal35

Queen Anne32

Mansard21

Italianate20

Colonial Revival19

★ Landmark

Asa Gray HouseBuilt 1810

★ Landmark

Christ ChurchBuilt 1760

★ Landmark

ElmwoodMid-Georgian · Built 1767

★ Landmark

Massachusetts Hall, Harvard UniversityEarly Georgian

★ Landmark

Memorial Hall, Harvard UniversityHigh Victorian Gothic

★ Landmark

Oliver Hastings HouseGreek Revival · Built 1844

★ Landmark

Sever Hall, Harvard UniversityRichardsonian Romanesque

★ Landmark

University Hall, Harvard UniversityFederal

All 205 listings

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Timeline

Cambridge, 1630 to 1960

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

17th century
1630
FoundingCambridge is established
18th century
1760BuiltChrist Church is built
1767BuiltElmwood is built
1790In the archiveView of the colleges at Cambridge, Massachusetts
19th century
1802Post officeThe Cambridge post office opens
1810BuiltAsa Gray House is built
1820In the archiveUniversité de Cambridge près Baston (i.e. Boston)
1828Post officeThe Cambridgeport post office opens
1828Post officeThe East Cambridge post office opens
1839Born hereCharles Sanders Peirce is born here
1844BuiltOliver Hastings House is built
1873Post officeThe Cambridge post office closes
1873Post officeThe Cambridgeport post office closes
1873Post officeThe East Cambridge post office closes
1882Born herePercy Williams Bridgman is born here
1893On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
20th century
1960LandmarkChrist Church named a National Historic Landmark
1960LandmarkMassachusetts Hall, Harvard University named a National Historic Landmark

The story

How Cambridge came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cambridge.

Read it all →

Native Americans inhabited the Charles River basin for thousands of years prior to European colonization of the Americas, as confirmed by archaeological remains in neighboring Watertown and Boston. At the time of European contact, the area was inhabited by Naumkeag of the Pawtucket Confederacy to the north and Massachusett to the south.

ChaptersPre-colonization 17th century and colonialism 18th century and Revolutionary War 19th century and industrialization 20th century 21st century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Cambridge in 1877

Passages that mention Cambridge, cut from the printed page as they were published.

tlieir associates were " empowered to erect a pile bridge over the Charles River between the city of Cambridge and the town of Brookline, from points at or near the old wharf or embankment, which is near where the Boston and Worcester Railroad passes under a bridge on the Western Avenue (so called)… — **History of Cambridge, Massachusetts. 1630-1877. With a genealogical register**1877 · page 201Read the page →
Read the text
tlieir associates were " empowered to erect a pile bridge over the Charles River between the city of Cambridge and the town of Brookline, from points at or near the old wharf or embankment, which is near where the Boston and Worcester Railroad passes under a bridge on the Western Avenue (so called) to the opposite bank of the river in Cambridge," and to receive certain rates of toll for the term of fifty years. By mutual agreement, however, and by permission of the General Court, it was transferred
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Peter Buckley, | " Francis Nicholson, ) Wait Winthrop, J " Upon reading this day in Council the petition of the inhabitants of Cambridge Village in the County of Middlesex, being sixty families or upwards, that they may be a Yillage and place distinct of themselves and freed from the town of Cambri… — **History of Cambridge, Massachusetts. 1630-1877. With a genealogical register**1877 · page 95Read the page →
Read the text
Peter Buckley, | " Francis Nicholson, ) Wait Winthrop, J " Upon reading this day in Council the petition of the inhabitants of Cambridge Village in the County of Middlesex, being sixty families or upwards, that they may be a Yillage and place distinct of themselves and freed from the town of Cambridge to which at the first settlement they were annexed ; they being in every respect capable thereof, and by the late authority made
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

Cambridge, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1790s to the 1820s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1790s–1820s4 items

1790View of the colleges at Cambridge, Massachusetts

1792View of Christ's Church

Peleg Wadsworth to John Wadsworth, 16 February 1797 (65b9bad8-5170-4595-b53a-5d3877cb0d33)

1797Peleg Wadsworth to John Wadsworth, 16 February 1797 (…Document

1820Université de Cambridge près Baston (i.e. Boston)Document

On the map

Cambridge on the map, 1893 to 1903

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cambridge. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1893Boston sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Cambridge.

Every building

Cambridge, building by building, 1900

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Cambridge fire insurance map, 1900, sheet 1

1900Sheet 1 of 88

Edition

Sheets

+87 more at the Library of Congress

BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

The same spot, years apart

Drag across each photo to compare.

Christ Church — View of Christ's ChurchMatched from the two captions

People over time

Cambridge, census by census

Between 2,115 and 120,740 people in every census since 1790.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cambridge’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

25 famous people were born in Cambridge

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

Matt DamonAmerican actor · b. 1970

Percy Williams BridgmanAmerican physicist · b. 1882

Charles Sanders PeirceAmerican philosopher, logician, mathematician, … · b. 1839

Mindy KalingAmerican actress, writer, and comedian · b. 1979

Anne McCaffreyAmerican-Irish novelist · b. 1926

Leroy AndersonAmerican composer · b. 1908

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Cambridge had its own post office from 1802 to 1873. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Cambridge

1802–1873

Cambridgeport

1828–1873

East Cambridge

1828–1873

North Cambridge

1853–1873

18001910today

Hamlets and corners on the map

Avon HillCambridgeportCoolidge HillEast CambridgeHuron VillageLarchwoodMount AuburnNorth CambridgeOld CambridgeStrawberry Hill

Gone or out of use

Canal BridgebridgeEdward J Sullivan CourthousebuildingHolden ChapelchurchPrison Point BridgebridgeRadcliffe GymnasiumbuildingSancta Maria HospitalhospitalThe Winsor SchoolschoolWashington Elmpark

4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Cambridge

Burial HillCambridgeNorth Cambridge CatholicOld

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start Cambridge’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cambridge’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewView of the colleges at Cambridge, Mass…: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Boston324 historic placesA⁺Somerville88 historic placesA Belmont6 historic placesA Watertown12 historic placesA Arlington57 historic placesA⁺

Questions about Cambridge’s history

What year was Cambridge founded?

In 1630, according to Wikidata. Cambridge’s post office opened in 1802, and the first U.S. census counted 2,115 people here in 1790.

How does Cambridge rank for history?

Cambridge is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #20 of 283 in Massachusetts. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Cambridge?

204 listings, 17 of them National Historic Landmarks: 166 buildings, among them the Asa Gray House (a National Historic Landmark since 1965), 35 historic districts with 1,105 contributing buildings, 1 site, 2 structures, and 1 object. 1,332 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Cambridge?

47% of Cambridge’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1950.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

Start a conversation

Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (2), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (7), the National Register of Historic Places (205), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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Cambridge has 204 places on the National Register, 17 of them National Historic Landmarks

How Cambridge began

When was Cambridge founded?

How historic is Cambridge?

What drives Cambridge’s History grade

What stands out about Cambridge’s past

204 listings protect 1,332 historic buildings

Architectural styles listings

Cambridge, 1630 to 1960

How Cambridge came to be

What they wrote about Cambridge in 1877

Cambridge, decade by decade

Cambridge on the map, 1893 to 1903

Cambridge, building by building, 1900

The same spot, years apart

Cambridge, census by census

25 famous people were born in Cambridge

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Start Cambridge’s collection

History across the town line

Questions about Cambridge’s history

Memory lane

Where this page comes from