Central Square is an area in
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, ...
centered on the junction of
Massachusetts Avenue Massachusetts Avenue may refer to:
* Massachusetts Avenue (metropolitan Boston), Massachusetts
** Massachusetts Avenue (MBTA Orange Line station), a subway station on the MBTA Orange Line
** Massachusetts Avenue (MBTA Silver Line station), a stati ...
, Prospect Street and Western Avenue. , formed by the junction of Massachusetts Avenue, Columbia Street, Sidney Street and Main Street, is also considered a part of the Central Square area.
Harvard Square
Harvard Square is a triangular plaza at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street and John F. Kennedy Street near the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The term "Harvard Square" is also used to delineate the busin ...
is to the northwest along Massachusetts Avenue,
Inman Square
Inman Square is a neighborhood and historic district in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It lies north of Central Square, at the junction of Cambridge, Hampshire, and Inman Streets near the Cambridge– Somerville border.
Location
Like many squar ...
is to the north along Prospect Street and
Kendall Square
Kendall Square is a neighborhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The square itself at the intersection of Main Street and Broadway. It also refers to the broad business district east of Portland Street, northwest of the Charles River, north of MIT ...
is to the east along Main Street. The section of Central Square along Massachusetts Avenue between Clinton Street and Main Street is designated the Central Square Historic District, and was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1990.
Culture
Central Square was designated an official Cultural District in the state of Massachusetts by the Mass Cultural Council in October 2012. Central Square is known for its wide variety of ethnic restaurants, churches, bars, and live music and theatre venues. Richard B.
Modica Way, aka "Graffiti Alley", has been described as a "hallmark of Central Square." It is gentrifying rapidly, and a number of upscale restaurants have opened in the Square. Many startups, including pharmaceutical, videogame and Internet companies, have moved research and office operations into the Square to take advantage of the proximity to
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 ...
, Boston medical resources and relatively low costs. Some critics have claimed that the recent changes have diminished the Square's edge, as some of the older Square businesses such as
Manray have closed. There is also a diverse array of houses of worship in the area, with
Christ the King Presbyterian Church
Christ The King Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) church, founded in 1995. It occupies the historic building of the former Prospect Congregational Church, located at 99 Prospect Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts near ...
,
First Baptist Church, Sts. Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church, St. Paul's
African Methodist Episcopal Church
The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Black church, predominantly African American Methodist Religious denomination, denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, c ...
and other large historic congregations meeting near the Square.
History
![1910s CentralSq CambridgeMA by DetroitPubCo LC](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/1910s_CentralSq_CambridgeMA_by_DetroitPubCo_LC.png)
Central Square's history has been marked by several waves of immigration. The original population of the Square included people of English and Canadian ancestry. Between 1850 and 1890, the Square attracted many Irish immigrants, and in the late Nineteenth Century also became home to many others from throughout Europe. Later waves of immigration included people from the West Indies, South America and Africa.
Central Square is also the original home of actor
Ben Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Volpi Cup.
Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS educationa ...
and, from 1927 to 2003, the
Necco factory. The old Necco factory building in Cambridge is now used for labs by
Novartis
Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loc ...
.
Geography and transportation
Several Cambridge neighborhoods meet at Central Square. To the east,
Area 4 lies on the north side of Massachusetts Avenue (aka "Mass Ave.") and
Cambridgeport
Cambridgeport is one of the neighborhoods of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is bounded by Massachusetts Avenue, the Charles River, the Grand Junction Railroad, and River Street. The neighborhood contains predominantly residential homes, many of the ...
on the south side between Massachusetts Avenue and 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 ...
. Both of these neighborhoods were once known as The Port or Old Port region of Cambridge. The area to the west and northwest of Central Square is known as Mid-Cambridge.
Central Square is accessible from
Central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
station on the
MBTA Red Line
The Red Line is a rapid transit line operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) as part of the MBTA subway system. The line runs south and east underground from Alewife station in North Cambridge through Somerville and Ca ...
, as well as Buses 1, 64, 70, 83, and 91.
The intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and
Brookline
Brookline may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Brookline, Massachusetts, a town near Boston
* Brookline, Missouri
* Brookline, New Hampshire
* Brookline (Pittsburgh), a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Brookline, Vermont
See ...
in front of
The Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europea ...
in Central Square is named in honor of the late
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...
musician
Mark Sandman
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* Fin ...
, who often played there.
Central Square serves as the commercial center for the surrounding neighborhoods of Cambridgeport, Riverside, Mid Cambridge, Area 4 and MIT.
![LOC 220043v](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/LOC_220043v.jpg)
Local government services
Central Square is the seat of government in Cambridge.
Cambridge City Hall, and the main branch of the
Cambridge Post Office are located in this area. The
Cambridge Police Department
The Cambridge Police Department is the municipal police department for the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States. Formally organized in 1859. with the appointment of John C. Willey as the first Chief of Police, the Cambridge Po ...
headquarters was formerly at 5 Western Avenue in the Central Square area; however, between November 2008 and March 2009
City of Cambridge: Police Department new Headquarters updates
it completed a relocation to a new facility at 125 Sixth Street, near Kendall Square.
Notable residents
*Ben Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Volpi Cup.
Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS educationa ...
, actor
*Casey Affleck
Caleb Casey McGuire Affleck-Boldt (born August 12, 1975) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Satellite Award. He beg ...
, actor
*Matt Damon
Matthew Paige Damon (; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North Americ ...
, actor
* Ken Brown, filmmaker
*Lisa Crafts
Lisa Crafts is an American animator and moving image artist whose interdisciplinary work has addressed issues of environmental uncertainty, sexuality, creativity and chaos.
Practice
Her current body of work focuses on a series of short moving ima ...
, animator
*Patrick Ewing
Patrick Aloysius Ewing (born August 5, 1962) is a Jamaican-American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Georgetown University men's team. He played most of his career as the starting center for the N ...
, athlete
* Vernon Grant, cartoonist
*John Forbes Nash
John Forbes Nash Jr. (June 13, 1928 – May 23, 2015) was an American mathematician who made fundamental contributions to game theory, real algebraic geometry, differential geometry, and partial differential equations. Nash and fellow ga ...
, mathematician
* Margaret Hamilton, scientist and engineer
Notable businesses
* Central Square Theater
* The Middle East (nightclub)
The Middle East is an entertainment complex consisting of five adjacent dining and live music venues in the Central Square neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Its three dedicated concert spaces, Upstairs, Downstairs, and Sonia, sit alongsi ...
* Toscanini's
Fiction about Central Square
* Central Square (1998), by George Packer
George Packer (born August 13, 1960) is a US journalist, novelist, and playwright. He is best known for his writings for ''The New Yorker'' and ''The Atlantic'' about U.S. foreign policy and for his book '' The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq''. ...
. Graywolf Press
See also
* Carl Barron Plaza
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Cambridge, Massachusetts
References
External links
CentralSquare.com
Photo comparison of Central Square in 1998 and 2002
www.c2culture.com
www.centralsquarecambridge.com]/ http://centralsquarecambridge.com/
{{Authority control
Squares in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Neighborhoods in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Historic districts in Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Entertainment districts in the United States
National Register of Historic Places in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts