Cambridge

Sister cities

• Coimbra
• Kraków
• Yerevan
• Cambridge
• Las Flores
• Tsukuba
• Cienfuegos
• Galway
• Gaeta

History

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. The contact period introduced a number of European infectious diseases which would decimate native populations in virgin soil epidemics, significantly depopulating the Charles River basin upon the arrival of large groups of English settlers in the 1630s. and a smallpox epidemic in 1633 killed large portions of her tribe, including two of her sons. Some sources list Cambridge as the English toponym for Anmoughcawgen, meaning 'fishing weir' or 'beaver dam' in Natick, however this misconception arises from John Smith's 1617 Description of New England, in this case to a location on the Kennebec River in Maine, while the Charles River (also named by Smith) was known as the Quinobequin. Official Massachusetts records show the name rendered as Newe Towne by 1632, and as Newtowne by 1638. Located at the first convenient Charles River crossing west of Boston, Newtowne was one of several towns, including Boston, Dorchester, Watertown, and Weymouth, founded by the 700 original Puritan colonists of the Massachusetts Bay Colony who arrived on the Winthrop Fleet. Its first preacher was Thomas Hooker, who led many of its original inhabitants west in 1636 to found Hartford and the Connecticut Colony; before leaving, they sold their plots to more recent immigrants from England. The original village site is now within Harvard Square. The marketplace where farmers sold crops from surrounding towns at the edge of a salt marsh (since filled) remains…

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Cambridge has a total area of , of which is land and (9.82%) of which is water. Cambridge is located in eastern Massachusetts, bordered by: * the city of Boston to the south and east (across the Charles River) * the neighborhood of Charlestown to the east * the city of Somerville to the north * the town of Arlington to the northwest * the town of Belmont and * the city of Watertown to the west The border between Cambridge and the neighboring city of Somerville passes through densely populated neighborhoods, which are connected by the MBTA Red Line. Some of the main squares, Inman, Porter, and to a lesser extent, Harvard and Lechmere, are very close to the city line, as are Somerville's Union and Davis Squares. Through the City of Cambridge's exclusive municipal water system, the city further controls two exclave areas, one being Payson Park Reservoir and Gatehouse, a 2009 listed American Water Landmark located roughly one mile west of Fresh Pond and surrounded by the town of Belmont. The second area is the larger Hobbs Brook and Stony Brook watersheds, which share borders with neighboring towns and cities including Lexington, Lincoln, Waltham and Weston. Cambridge has been called the "City of Squares", as most of its commercial districts are major street intersections known as squares. Each square acts as a neighborhood center. Kendall Square, formed by the junction of Broadway, Main Street, and Third Street, has been called "the most innovative square mile on the planet", owing to its high concentration of entrepreneurial start-ups and quality of innovation which have emerged in the vicinity of the square since 2010. Technology Square is an office and laboratory building cluster in this neighborhood. Just over the Longfellow…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  172,180
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  158,643
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  142,745
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  133,464
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  131,158
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  129,759
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  127,335
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  112,076

Largest nearby schools

• Lexington High
  High · Lexington · 2,303 students · 12.3:1 ratio
• Everett High
  High · Everett · 2,231 students · 13.4:1 ratio
• Newton North High
  High · Newtonville · 2,099 students · 10.9:1 ratio
• Cambridge Rindge and Latin
  High · Cambridge · 1,867 students · 8.7:1 ratio
• Malden High
  High · Malden · 1,856 students · 16:1 ratio
• Newton South High
  High · Newton Centre · 1,837 students · 11.8:1 ratio
• Waltham Sr High
  High · Waltham · 1,751 students · 10.9:1 ratio
• Mystic Valley Regional Charter School
  Other · Malden · 1,608 students · 16.8:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.8 — 2025-01-27
  9 km SE of York Harbor, Maine
• M 2.7 — 2023-12-23
  5 km SW of Chichester, New Hampshire
• M 3.6 — 2020-11-08
  10 km S of Bliss Corner, Massachusetts
• M 2.7 — 2018-02-15
  0 km SE of East Kingston, New Hampshire
• M 2.6 — 2015-01-13
  2 km E of Wauregan, Connecticut
• M 3.3 — 2015-01-12
  0 km NE of Wauregan, Connecticut