The Cambridge, Massachusetts City Hall is the

city hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

for

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

, located at 795 Massachusetts Avenue, and built in the

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a architectural style, style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revivalism (architecture), revival style incorporates 11th- and 12th-century ...

style. The building additionally serves as a centerpiece of the surrounding City Hall Historic District and adjacent Central Square Historic District.

History

The hall was built between 1888 and 1889, and was largely funded through a donation from Frederick Hastings Rindge. The architects were Longfellow, Alden & Harlow ( Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow Jr., 1854–1934; Frank E. Alden, 1859–1908; and Alfred B. Harlow, 1857–1927). The building is three stories tall, with a bell tower that rises to 158 feet. Load-bearing stone walls are of Milford granite trimmed with Longmeadow brownstone. Cambridge City Hall houses offices for the city council, the city manager and several municipal departments. In addition to the main building, the city of Cambridge also houses several other departments a couple of city blocks away in the City Hall Annex, located at Broadway and Inman Street. On May 17, 2004, shortly after midnight, the first legal applications in the United States for marriage licenses for same-sex couples were issued at Cambridge City Hall. At 9:15 a.m. that day, the Cambridge City Clerk began solemnizing same-sex marriages. ''See''

same-sex marriage in Massachusetts Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in Massachusetts since May 17, 2004, as a result of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruling in '' Goodridge v. Department of Public Health'' that it was unconstitutional under the Co ...

References

External links

*
Official page for city of Cambridge

Datasheet at Towerclocks.org
{{Cambridge, Massachusetts Government of Cambridge, Massachusetts Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Clock towers in Massachusetts Government buildings completed in 1889 Historic district contributing properties in Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Cambridge, Massachusetts City and town halls on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts