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Top Attractions in Cambridge

Harvard

Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, established in 1636. Its history, influence and wealth have made it one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Established originally by the Massachusetts legislature and soon thereafter named for John Harvard , Harvard is the United States' oldest institution of higher learning, and the Harvard Corporation is its first chartered corporation. Although never formally affiliated with any denomination, the early College primarily trained Congregationalist and Unitarian clergy. Its curriculum and student body were gradually secularized during the 18th century, and by the 19th century Harvard had emerged as the central cultural establishment among Boston elites. Following the American Civil War, President Charles W. Eliot's long tenure transformed the college and affiliated professional schools into a modern research university; Harvard was a founding member of the Association of American Universities in 1900. James Bryant Conant led the university through the Great Depression and World War II and began to reform the curriculum and liberalize admissions after the war. The undergraduate college became coeducational after its 1977 merger with Radcliffe College. The University is organized into eleven separate academic units—ten faculties and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study—with campuses throughout the Boston metropolitan area: its 209-acre main campus is centered on Harvard Yard in Cambridge, approximately 3 miles northwest of Boston; the business school and athletics facilities, including Harvard Stadium, are located across the Charles River in the Allston neighborhood of Boston and the medical, dental, and public health schools are in the Longwood Medical Area. Harvard has the largest financial endowment of any academic institution in the world, standing at $36.4 billion. Harvard is a large, highly residential research university. The nominal cost of attendance is high, but the University's large endowment allows it to offer generous financial aid packages. It operates several arts, cultural, and scientific museums, alongside the Harvard Library, which is the world's largest academic and private library system, comprising 79 individual libraries with over 18 million volumes. Harvard's alumni include eight U.S. presidents, several foreign heads of state, 62 living billionaires, 335 Rhodes Scholars, and 242 Marshall Scholars. To date, some 150 Nobel laureates and 5 Fields Medalists have been affiliated as students, faculty, or staff.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1861 in response to the increasing industrialization of the United States, MIT adopted a European polytechnic university model and stressed laboratory instruction in applied science and engineering. Researchers worked on computers, radar, and inertial guidance during World War II and the Cold War. Post-war defense research contributed to the rapid expansion of the faculty and campus under James Killian. The current 168-acre campus opened in 1916 and extends over 1 mile along the northern bank of the Charles River basin. MIT, with five schools and one college which contain a total of 32 departments, is traditionally known for its research and education in the physical sciences and engineering, and more recently in biology, economics, linguistics, and management as well. MIT is often cited as among the worlds top universities. The "Engineers" sponsor 31 sports, most teams of which compete in the NCAA Division IIIs New England Womens and Mens Athletic Conference; the Division I rowing programs compete as part of the EARC and EAWRC. As of 2015, 84 Nobel laureates, 52 National Medal of Science recipients, 45 Rhodes Scholars, 38 MacArthur Fellows, 34 astronauts, and 2 Fields Medalists have been affiliated with MIT. The school has a strong entrepreneurial culture, and the aggregated revenues of companies founded by MIT alumni would rank as the eleventh-largest economy in the world.

Harvard Square

Harvard Square is near the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. It refers to both the triangular plaza at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street, and John F. Kennedy Street; as well as the business district and Harvard University surrounding that intersection. It is the historic center of Cambridge. Adjacent to Harvard Yard, the historic heart of Harvard University, the Square functions as a commercial center for Harvard students, as well as residents of western Cambridge and the inner western and northern suburbs of Boston. These residents use the Harvard station, a major MBTA Red Line subway and bus transportation hub. In an extended sense, the name "Harvard Square" can also refer to the entire neighborhood surrounding this intersection for several blocks in each direction. The nearby Cambridge Common has become a park area with a playground, baseball field, and a number of monuments, several relating to the Revolutionary War.

Museum of Comparative Zoology

The Museum of Comparative Zoology, full name "The Louis Agassiz Museum of Comparative Zoology", often abbreviated simply to "MCZ", is the zoology museum located on the grounds of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is one of three natural history research museums at Harvard whose public face is the Harvard Museum of Natural History. Harvard MCZs collections consist of some 21 million specimens, of which several thousand are on rotating display at the public museum. The current director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology is James Hanken, the Louis Agassiz Professor of Zoology at Harvard University. Many of the exhibits in the public museum have not only zoological interest but also historical significance. Past exhibits have included a fossil sand dollar which was found by Charles Darwin in 1834, Captain Cooks mamo, and two pheasants that once belonged to George Washington, now on loan to Mount Vernon in Virginia. The Harvard Museum of Natural History is physically connected to the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology; for visitors, one admission ticket grants access to both museums. The research collections of the Museum of Comparative Zoology are not open to the public.

Semitic Museum

The Harvard Semitic Museum was founded in 1889, and moved into its present location at 6 Divinity Avenue in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1903. From the beginning, it was the home of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, a departmental library, a repository for research collections, a public educational institute, and a center for archaeological exploration. Among the Museums early achievements were the first scientific excavations in the Holy Land and excavations at Nuzi and Tell el-Khaleifeh in the Sinai, where the earliest alphabet was found. The Museums artifacts include pottery, cylinder seals, sculpture, coins, cuneiform tablets, and Egyptian mummy sarcophagi. Many are from museum-sponsored excavations in Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Cyprus, Israel, and Tunisia. The museum holds plaster casts of the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, the Laws of Hammurabi, and the Stele of Esarhaddon, as well as a full-scale model of an Iron Age Israelite house. The Museum is dedicated to the use of these collections for the teaching, research, and publication of Near Eastern archaeology, history, and culture.

MIT Museum

The MIT Museum, founded in 1971 is located at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It hosts collections of holography, technology-related artworks, artificial intelligence, robotics, maritime history, and the history of MIT. Its holography collection of 1800 pieces is the largest in the world, though not all of it is exhibited. As of 2014, works of high-speed photographer Harold Edgerton and kinetic artist Arthur Ganson are the two largest long-running displays. There is a regular program of temporary special exhibitions, often on the intersections of art and technology. In addition to serving the MIT community, the Museum offers numerous outreach programs to school-age children and adults in the public at large. The widely-attended annual Cambridge Science Festival was originated by and continues to be coordinated by the Museum.

Out of Town News

Out of Town News is an iconic newsstand located in the center of Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts. The newsstand was long noted for stocking the leading newspapers from around the nation and around the world. Customers, especially academics, would come long distances to get the most recent editions of their home town paper, or of newspapers from parts of the world where important news events were unfolding. In 2008, it was announced that the newsstand might go out of business because its unique function of supplying yesterdays Times of India or Le Monde, flown in overnight, was made obsolete by the ability to read them online. However, in January 2009 a new owner signed a lease to take over the newsstand and keep it alive. Since the MBTA Red Line extension was finished in the 1980s, the newsstand has been housed in the former MBTA kiosk, a National Historic Landmark built in 1928 as a shelter for the Harvard Square stop on the Boston Elevated Railway, a precursor to the MBTA.

Harvard University Herbaria

The Harvard University Herbaria and Botanical Museum are institutions located on the grounds of Harvard University at 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Botanical Museum is one of three which comprise the Harvard Museum of Natural History. The Herbaria, founded in 1842 by Asa Gray, are one of the 10 largest in the world with over 5 million specimens, and including the Botany Libraries, form the worlds largest university owned herbarium. The Gray Herbariym is named after him. HUH hosts the Gray Herbarium Index as well as an extensive specimen, botanist, and publications database. HUH was the center for botanical research in the United States of America by the time of its founders retirement in the 1870s. The materials deposited there are one of the three major sources for the International Plant Names Index. The Botanical museum was founded in 1858. It was originally called the Museum of Vegetable Products and was predominantly focused on an interdisciplinary study of useful plants . The nucleus of materials for this museum was donated by Sir William Hooker, the Director of the Royal Botanic Garden. George Lincoln Goodalle became the museums first director in 1888; under his direction the building was completed in 1890 and provided both research facilities and public exhibit space, which were the botanical complement to the "Agassiz" Museum of Comparative Zoology. Three successive directors substantially enlarged the collections of economic products, medicinal plants, artifacts, archeological materials, pollen, and photographs. Faculty and students continue to add significantly to the extensive paleobotanical collections, particularly Precambrian material containing early life forms. The Oakes Ames Collection of Economic Botany, the Paleobotanical Collection, and the Margaret Towle Collection of Archaeological Plant Remains are housed in the Botanical Museum building. The Botany libraries and various herbaria are located in the Harvard University Herbaria building. The Botany Libraries collectively are a founding member of the Biodiversity Heritage Library. The Ware Collection of Glass Models of Plants, popularly known as the "Glass Flowers," are considered one of the Universitys great treasures. Commissioned by Goodale and created by Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka from 1887 through 1936, the collection comprises over 3,000 models including life-size and enlarged parts for over 840 species. This is the only collection of its type in the world. The Botanical Museum of Harvard University and the other museums that comprise the Harvard Museum of Natural History are physically connected to the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and one admission grants visitors access to all museums.

List Visual Arts Center

Established in 1985, the List Visual Arts Center is the contemporary art gallery of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . The LVAC is internationally recognized for the 4-6 exhibitions it presents each year in its 6,000-square-foot galleries, which are open to the general public. Admission is free to all, as are most events sponsored by the LVAC, including family-friendly hands-on art workshops. The LVAC is housed in the Wiesner building, an I.M. Pei-designed, fully accessible facility that incorporates the work of painter Kenneth Noland, sculptor Scott Burton, and environmental sculptor Richard Fleischner, all commissioned through MITs Percent-for-Art program. The Percent-for-Art program, administered by the LVAC, allocates funds for the commission of artworks in connection with each new campus construction or major renovation project. Past commissions include Louise Nevelsons Transparent Horizon in front of the Landau Building, Sol LeWitts polychrome floor in the Green Center for Physics, and Anish Kapoors untitled stainless steel piece in the Stata Center. The LVAC maintains a permanent collection, primarily sited throughout campus, of over 3,000 prints, photographs, drawings, paintings, sculptures, textiles, collages, and other objects of contemporary art. The public sculpture collection includes major works by such artists as Alexander Calder, Jorge Pardo, Henry Moore, Pablo Picasso, Sarah Sze, and Mark DiSuvero. An interactive map of all publicly situated art is available here. The Center also maintains the Student Loan Art Collection, consisting of 500 original works of art. Through this popular annual loan program, students may borrow original works of art from the collection for their private rooms or communal spaces. The artworks available for loan are exhibited in a September show, which may also be viewed by the general public. Each year, new works are added to the collection, and selected older works are reassigned to the non-circulating permanent collection. New selections are made with the advice of the MIT Council for the Arts, and usually consist of artists limited edition prints or photographs. The LVAC has been the commissioning institution for the Venice Biennales three times at the US Pavilion: 1999, artist Ann Hamilton with commissioners Katy Kline and Helaine Posner 2003, artist Fred Wilson with Kathy Goncharov as the commissioner 2015, artist Joan Jonas with Paul Ha as commissioner

Cooper-Frost-Austin House

The Cooper-Frost-Austin House is a historic Colonial American house, currently estimated to have been constructed circa 1681-1682. It is located at 21 Linnaean Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is the oldest extant home in Cambridge and is owned and operated as a non-profit museum by Historic New England. The house is rarely open for public tours, but private tours can be arranged during the summer months. The house was built by Samuel Cooper on land that his father, Deacon John Cooper, had owned since 1657, and was first documented in 1689 in The Register Book of the Lands and Houses in the "New Towne" . Its original structure was a single room and chimney bay in width, two and one half stories in height with an integral lean-to, containing a "low room," "little room," "kitchin," "Chamber," "kitchin Chamber," "Garret," and "Cellar," all of which still exist, as do the original chimney and a facade gable. The house was extended in 1690 by Coopers son, and then again between 1807-1816 by Martha Frost Austin and Thomas Austin who added an enclosed porch and Federal style stairway and trim. The house was acquired by Historic New England in 1912. In 2002 the Oxford Dendrochronology Laboratory analyzed wooden beams from the original structure and ascertained that donor trees were felled at the following times: Winter 1675/6, Winter 1680/81, and Spring 1681. The oldest timber may have been stockpiled before construction.

Lechmere Square

Lechmere Square is located at the intersection of Cambridge Street and First Street in East Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was originally named for the Colonial-era landowner Richard Lechmere, a Loyalist who returned to England at the beginning of the American Revolution. His lands were later seized by the new American government. The shoreline is shown as "Lechmeres Point" on Revolutionary War maps, and was the landing point for British troops en route to the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The area was developed by land speculator Andrew Craigie in the early 19th century. Later, a store was founded in the area and named for it. The store expanded into a regional chain, which was purchased by Montgomery Ward in 1994 and closed in 1997 as Montgomery Ward filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The area is now best known for the CambridgeSide Galleria, one of the few full-fledged interior shopping malls within the city limits of Boston and Cambridge, which is on the site of the original Lechmere store . In years past, Lechmere Square was a manufacturing center producing candy, furniture, and caskets. Lechmere Square and the surrounding East Cambridge are currently undergoing a revival of sorts. The areas factories have been or are being converted into office buildings and condominiums. Several large-scale development projects were begun in 2004 and 2005. The results of these projects are yet to be seen. It does appear, however, that East Cambridge and Lechmere Square are undergoing a gentrification process similar to what has been seen in other areas of Cambridge. Lechmere Square is served by the MBTAs Lechmere station. Many MBTA bus lines also stop here. Lechmere is the northern terminus of the Green Line and is an at-grade stop. Service to Lechmere and nearby Science Park was interrupted from June 2004 until November 12, 2005 for replacement of the Causeway Street Elevated with a tunnel under North Station. The historic concrete Lechmere Viaduct across the Charles River remains. Further renovations of the Science Park have caused the MBTA to close the station from April 30th, 2011 until November 2011 and replace the service with a shuttle bus to North Station. Planning is ongoing to move Lechmere station across Monsignor OBrien Highway, where it will serve the new North Point development and facilitate a Green Line extension to the north. The Charles River, Lechmere Canal, and Memorial Drive are nearby. Lechmere is also located close to the Museum of Science.

University Museum

The University Museum is a historic building that houses several museums belonging to Harvard University. The building is located at 24-28 Oxford Street and 11-25 Divinity Avenue in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It houses both the Harvard Museum of Natural History at 26 Oxford Street, and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at 11 Divinity Avenue, as well as several departments of Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology and the Mineralogical & Geological Museum. The building is a large U-shaped brick structure, six stories high, whose oldest portion dates to 1859. This section was built to house the Museum of Comparative Zoology; it was added onto in 1876 to provide space for the Peabody Museum, and was expanded several other times between then and 1913. The building is basically Italian Renaissance in its styling. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

John W. Weeks Bridge

The John W. Weeks Bridge, usually called the Weeks Footbridge , is a pedestrian bridge over the Charles River, connecting Cambridge, Massachusetts with the Allston neighborhood of Boston. John W. Weeks was a longtime U.S. Representative, and later Senator, from Massachusetts, as well as Secretary of War in the Harding and Coolidge administrations. The Weeks Bridge opened in 1927 to carry pedestrian traffic between the Harvard Business School's newly built Allston campus and the Business School's former home, Harvard's traditional campus in Cambridge. Its concrete underbelly conceals tentacles of the University's steam, electrical, and communications networks. The bridge is a popular vantage point from which to enjoy the Head of the Charles Regatta. An abrupt bend in the river prompts most boats to crowd through the bridge's center span, and collisions have occurred when coxswains could not make themselves heard above the cheering of the crowd.

Luna

Luna is a historic tugboat normally berthed in Boston, Massachusetts. Luna was built in 1930 by John G. Alden and M.M. Davis. She is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a U.S. National Historic Landmark. Luna is the last surviving full-sized wooden ship-docking tug on the US Gulf and Atlantic coasts and is the worlds first diesel-electric tugboat build for commercial service. These two distinctions have led to designation of Luna as a US National Historic Landmark. Today Luna is preserved in Boston, where her rehabilitation process has been underway since the tug was rescued from being broken up in 1995. Luna is the responsibility of the Luna Preservation Society and its progress is recorded in their website. Due to her wartime service with a civilian crew, Luna is also a member of the Naval Historic Vessel Association.

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