Cambridgeport is one of the neighborhoods of

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

. It is bounded by Massachusetts Avenue, the

Charles River The Charles River ( Massachusett: ''Quinobequin)'' (sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles) is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton to Boston along a highly meandering route, that doubles b ...

, the

Grand Junction Railroad Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and commun ...

, and River Street. The neighborhood contains predominantly residential homes, many of the

triple decker A three-decker or triple-decker, in the United States, is a three-story ( triplex) apartment building. These buildings are typical of light-framed, wood construction, where each floor usually consists of a single apartment, and frequently, or ...

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 Fort Washington, located near the community of Fort Washington, Maryland, was for many decades the only defensive fort protecting Washington D.C. The original fort, overlooking the Potomac River, was completed in 1809, and was begun as Fort War ...

, several

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

buildings, and

Magazine Beach Magazine Beach is an American riverside park in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is located on the left bank of the Charles River, across Memorial Drive from Cambridgeport, and opposite Agganis Arena and other Boston University facilities on the far ...

. The neighborhood is Area 5 of Cambridge.

History

The

Fig Newton Newtons are a Nabisco-trademarked version of a pastry filled with sweet fruit paste. "Fig Newtons" are the most popular variety (fig rolls filled with fig paste). They are produced by an extrusion process. Their distinctive shape is a characteri ...

cookie (named after nearby

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...

) was first manufactured in Cambridgeport in 1891 at the

F. A. Kennedy Steam Bakery The F. A. Kennedy Steam Bakery is a historic bakery at 129 Franklin Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts that first produced the Fig Newton in 1891. History The building was constructed in 1875. The well-known baked good that originated at the ...

. Portions of the neighborhood would have been demolished as part of the Inner Belt highway project first planned in 1948 but canceled in 1971 after intense protests organized by community activists, and following Gov.

Francis Sargent Francis Williams Sargent (July 29, 1915 – October 22, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 64th governor of Massachusetts from 1969 to 1975. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 63rd Lieutenant Govern ...

's 1970 moratorium on highway construction inside Route 128. The interstate would have followed the path of Brookline Street to the

Boston University Bridge The Boston University Bridge, originally the Cottage Farm Bridge and commonly referred to as the BU Bridge, is a steel truss through arch bridge with a suspended deck carrying Route 2 over the Charles River, connecting the Boston University ca ...

Demographics

In 2010 the neighborhood had a population of 12,220 residents living in 5,391 households. In 1999, the average household income was $45,294.

References

Neighborhoods in Cambridge, Massachusetts Warehouse districts of the United States {{MiddlesexCountyMA-geo-stub