Cambridgeport is one of the neighborhoods of

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, ...

. It is bounded by Massachusetts Avenue, the

Charles River The Charles River (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ), sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles, is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, Hopkinton to Boston along a highly me ...

, the

Grand Junction Railroad The Grand Junction Railroad was an long railroad in the Boston, Massachusetts, area, connecting the railroads heading west and north from Boston. The western portion between Beacon Park Yard in Boston and the Inner Belt District in Somervill ...

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

triple decker A three-decker is the U.S. term for a type of vertical triplex apartment building. These detached three-story buildings are typically of light-framed, wood construction, where each floor usually consists of a single apartment. Both stand-al ...

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 ...

, several

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

buildings, and

Magazine Beach Magazine Beach is a riverside park in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the left bank of the Charles River, across Memorial Drive (Cambridge), Memorial Drive from Cambridgeport, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridgeport. The ...

. The neighborhood is Area 5 of Cambridge.

History

Once part of a more expansive marshland area associated with the Charles River basin, today many of the area's names are associated with its early history. Over time the area has become a center of municipal government for the city. The

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cookie (named after nearby

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located roughly west of Downtown Boston, and comprises a patchwork of thirteen villages. The city borders Boston to the northeast and southeast (via the neighborhoods of ...

) was first manufactured in Cambridgeport in 1891 at the F. A. Kennedy Steam Bakery. 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 governo ...

's 1970 moratorium on highway construction inside

Route 128 The following highways are numbered 128: Canada * New Brunswick Route 128 * Ontario Highway 128 (former) * Prince Edward Island Route 128 Costa Rica * National Route 128 (Costa Rica), National Route 128 India * National Highway 128 (India) Ja ...

. The original plan called for the Interstate to parallel 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 bridge, truss through arch bridge with a suspended deck carrying Massachusetts Route 2, Route 2 over the Charles River, ...

, although at least one other alignment was also considered.

Demographics

In 2010 the neighborhood had a population of 12,220 residents living in 5,391 households. In 1999, the median household income was $45,294, which has since risen to $86,800 in 2020.

Education

Cambridge Public Schools The Cambridge Public School District (or Cambridge Public Schools), is a school district serving Cambridge, Massachusetts in Greater Boston, in the United States. The mission of the school district is "Cambridge Public Schools delivers an exce ...

operates Cambridgeport School, which covers elementary school grades. The school opened in 1990. In 1997 Mary Lou McGrath, the superintendent, proposed closing Cambridgeport School.
Clipping
at

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. The school stayed open, and since circa 2001 it occupies the ex-Fletcher School.

References

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