Porter Square is a neighborhood in
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
and
Somerville, Massachusetts
Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81, ...
, located around the intersection 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 ...
and Somerville Avenue, between
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
and
Davis
Davis may refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Mount Davis (Antarctica)
* Davis Island (Palmer Archipelago)
* Davis Valley, Queen Elizabeth Land
Canada
* Davis, Saskatchewan, an unincorporated community
* Davis Strait, between Nunavut and Gre ...
Squares. The
Porter Square station
Porter is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) transit station in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It serves the Red Line rapid transit line, the MBTA Commuter Rail Fitchburg Line, and several MBTA bus lines. Located at Porter Squar ...
serves both the
MBTA Red Line and the
Commuter Rail
Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...
Fitchburg Line. A major part of the
Lesley University
Lesley University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. As of 2018-19 Lesley University enrolled 6,593 students (2,707 undergraduate and 3,886 graduate).
History ...
campus is located within the Porter Square area.
In 2004–06 the principal intersection, including the area adjacent to the shopping center, underwent extensive construction both to improve access for vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists, and mass transit users, and to improve drainage and storm water conditions. The artist Toshihiro Katayama of
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, in conjunction with the landscape architect Cynthia Smith, designed a new visual look for the new circulation design, including contrasting light and dark concrete paving, stone walls and boulders.
History
![Former estate at Porter Square](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Former_estate_at_Porter_Square.jpg)
Previously called Union Square, Porter Square was renamed in 1899 for the now-vanished Porter's Hotel, operated by Zachariah B. Porter, who also left his name to the hotel's specialty, the cut of steak known as
porterhouse. The hotel was demolished in 1909.
[Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge: Northwest Cambridge, 1977, , Cambridge Historical Commission, Cambridge, Massachusetts. pp. 164-65] The square, formerly flanked by cattle yards that used the Porter rail head to transport their beef throughout the US, was an important center for commerce and light industry as early as the late 18th century. A tunnel for moving cattle to and from the railroad without interfering with street traffic, known as the
Walden Street Cattle Pass
The Walden Street Cattle Pass, also referred to as the cow path,
Cambridge Department of Public Works , was built in 1857. The tunnel survives under the nearby Walden Street Bridge, and in 2007–08 was preserved and restored. The "most dramatic loss" of early 19th century landscape in the square was the leveling of the old Rand Estate in 1952 to make way for the Porter Square Shopping Center.
In 1984 the
Red Line was extended from
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
through Porter and
Davis Square
Davis Square is a major intersection in the northwestern section of Somerville, Massachusetts where several streets meet: Holland Street, Dover Street, Day Street, Elm Street, Highland Avenue, and College Avenue. The name is often used to refer ...
to its present terminus at
Alewife, a project that also left Porter with its most visible landmark, Susumu Shingu's 46-foot painted steel and aluminum
kinetic sculpture entitled
Gift of the Wind
''Gift of the Wind'' is a large-scale public kinetic sculpture, by Susumu Shingu, located in Porter Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts at the Porter, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway and commuter rail station. The art work consists ...
. Porter Square railroad history is covered in greater detail in the
Porter Square station
Porter is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) transit station in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It serves the Red Line rapid transit line, the MBTA Commuter Rail Fitchburg Line, and several MBTA bus lines. Located at Porter Squar ...
article.
Lesley University
![North Prospect Church](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/North_Prospect_Church.jpg)
Lesley University continues to expand in the Porter Square neighborhood, with the relocation of its College of Art and Design to the
North Prospect Church
North Avenue Congregational Church (now known as John and Carol Moriarty Library, and previously as Old Cambridge Baptist Church and North Prospect Congregational Church and Prospect Hall) is a historic church meetinghouse at 1801 (previously a ...
and a new building built on the church's former site at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Roseland Street.
In addition to University Hall at 1815 Massachusetts Avenue and the Lunder Arts Center at 1801 Massachusetts Avenue, Lesley also has administrative offices at 815 Somerville Avenue and parking areas across Massachusetts Avenue from University Hall.
Shopping
Porter Square Shopping Center
![porter square cambridge massachusetts](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Porter_square_cambridge_massachusetts.JPG)
The Porter Square Shopping Center consists of two buildings and a parking lot. As of July 2017, it is home to the following stores & eateries:
Porter Square Galleria
Adjacent to the Porter Square Shopping Center is a small mall called the Porter Square Galleria. In recent years it has lost several large tenants. A Target is being built in the space formerly occupied by Walgreens. As of September 2018, it is home to:
*
Anna's Taqueria
Anna's Taqueria is a chain of fast-service Mexican-fusion restaurants in the Boston area.
Overview
Anna's is modeled after U.S. West Coast style Mexican cuisine, specifically the Mission-style burrito of San Francisco. Its menu offers only four ...
*
Sprint
*Parelli Optical
The Shops at Porter and local "Japantown"
![Porter Exchange Building](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Porter_Exchange_Building.jpg)
A prominent feature of the Porter Square skyline is the tower on the
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
-style building located at 1815
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 ...
. The building, now known as University Hall, was originally a
Sears, Roebuck
Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...
store from 1928 to 1985. In 1991, Lesley University began leasing classroom space there, and in 1994 the university bought the building, which now houses its Graduate School of Education, bookstore, administrative offices, art and dance studios, and classrooms.
Porter Square and The Shops at Porter have a recent history of being a center for Boston's Japanese community. In May 2009, Lesley University ousted Kotobukiya, a Japanese grocery store, from The Shops at Porter, after 20 years in business there. Lesley wanted the space to expand its bookstore.
As of July 2017, The Shops at Porter is home to many Japanese eateries and businesses. Izakaya Ittoku and Shaking Crab are full-size restaurants, and the other eateries are located in a food court-like area with limited seating.
Other restaurants
Other restaurants in the area (as of July 2017) include:
References
{{Reflist, 2
External links
Description of Porter Square design projectfrom Cambridge Arts Council
PSNAPorter Square Neighbors Association
Asian-American culture in Massachusetts
Japantowns in the United States
Neighborhoods in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Squares in Somerville, Massachusetts
Squares in Cambridge, Massachusetts