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Cambridge Discovery Days 2011
Cambridge Discovery Days
Looks like we’ll have good weather (not *too* hot) for the first installment of Cambridge Discovery Days tomorrow.
Every August on two Saturdays, a variety of tours and talks are held around Cambridge. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War and many of the events will focus on the impact of the Civil War in Cambridge.
Cambridge Discovery Days is sponsored by the Cambridge History Collaborative – a partnership of local historical and educational groups that include the Cambridge Historical Commission, the Cambridge Historical Society, Mount Auburn Cemetery, and the Longfellow National Historic Site.
In addition to tours of Mount Auburn Cemetery, the Longfellow House, and the Cooper-Frost-Austin House, there are talks and tours around town. Here’s a sampling of the talks for Cambridge Discovery Days 2011:
- Telling Our Story: Fresh Pond and the Civil War
- Candy Land
- Discover East Cambridge Through Public Art
- The Poet and the Civil War: James Russell Lowell
- “His thoughts sounds no depth”: Cambridge’s Greatest Literary Battles
- Strolling Down Magazine Street
For details, times and more there’s a two-page flyer or a multi-page listing with full descriptions of each tour or talk.
Events are free, open to the public and held rain or shine. Please note – some events require registration. Check the flyer for more details and contact information.
Cambridge Discovery Days 2011 will take place on Saturday, August 6. 2011 and Saturday, August 13, 2011. Self-guided tours of Mount Auburn begin at 8 am, the first talk begins at 9:30 am.
Faces Nightclub – Soon To Be Apartments?
Anyone who’s driven into the city via Route 2 for the last twenty years or so has wondered about the eyesore on the right side of the highway as you enter Cambridge.
Faces nightclub, once a popular disco, has been abandoned for some twenty years. Increasingly shabby, it’s a terrible way to welcome people to Cambridge. “When will Faces be torn down?” has been asked innumerable times. Turns out that Faces site may be destined for apartments.
Arthur D. Little Office Building Is No More. Is Faces Next?
A week or so ago while on our weekly real estate tour we thought it had been torn down as we drove past on Route 2. We must not have been paying attention, however, because after circling back it turned out that it was the old Arthur D. Little office building that had just been reduced to rubble.
Is Faces next? Lately the old Faces sign has been wrapped in plastic. Far more promising, though is the recent Cambridge Planning Board meeting in February where developers presented plans for rental housing to be built on the Faces site.
Criterion Development Partners came before the Planning Board to introduce their plans to build a 227-unit apartment building on the site. There would be studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments in the four story complex. The development team would buy the Faces site from long-time owners the Martignettis.
The Faces site is complicated because of the flood plain and wetlands. The developers talked about how the design of the complex addresses those issues. The apartment building will be constructed with green building standards and there is an emphasis on the use of public transportation and bicycle use, capitalizing on the proximity of the Alewife MBTA stop and the bike path. The developers proposed that residents will be given a three month Charlie Card subway pass and there will be bike storage and a bicycle sharing program for tenants.
The Planning Board had plenty of questions for the developers but it was clear that everyone looks forward to the day that Faces is torn down.
Rodney’s Bookstore Is Not Closing After All
Rodney's Bookstore Is Not Closing After All
Rodney’s Bookstore Is Not Closing After All
Great news this week for all of us who appreciate a good book store – Rodney’s Books in Central Square isn’t closing after all.
If you’ve been bummed out, as I have, by the Going Out of Business signs in Rodney’s windows you can relax.
In fact, the owner hopes to remain in business for at least another five years according to Brock Parker on boston.com who reported that owner Shaw Taylor
”said renegotiating his rent will help the business remain open, and the success of the closing sale has enabled the store to pay of its bills.” read the rest of the story
I know I did my part! Rodney’s Books is one of my favorite local used bookstores. When I heard about the impending closing I headed right over – and emerged with several hundred dollars worth of books. “Books” and “sale” – a dangerous combo!
Election Day – November 2, 2010
Election Day – November 2, 2010
It’s going to be a busy day at the polls today.
I saw more people at my polling place than I can remember seeing – even during the presidential election.
Polls in Cambridge and across Massachusetts are open today from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Don’t forget to vote – and bring some extra cash for the bake sale!
It’s going to be a looong night waiting for results to come in – an afternoon nap may be just the ticket so I can make it through till 3 a.m. – but I’m too wound up to sleep.
The Old Manse – Concord MA – House Museum Monday
The Old Manse in Concord MA
The Old Manse - Concord MA – House Musuem Monday The Old Manse has always been one of my favorite house museums.
History of the Old Manse
Built in 1770 by the Reverend William Emerson, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s grandfather, the Emerson family watched the battle at the North Bridge on April 19, 1775.
After Reverend Emerson died later that year, his widow married the Reverend Ezra Ripley and the family remained at the Old Manse.
Ralph Waldo Emerson lived at the house for a time and wrote his Transcendentalist work “Nature” here.
Nathaniel Hawthorne and his family rented the house from the Ripleys for three years, moving in shortly after their marriage in 1842. I had always remembered the writings they carved into the glass window panes with Sophia Hawthorne’s diamond ring. But I was really struck during the tour by the liberties they took with the house as tenants who failed to pay rent for much of their stay. Not your model tenants for sure! But how amazing is it that the inscriptions are still there?
That’s one of the real treats when you visit the house – it is largely intact with the furnishings and possessions that were in the house in 1800s. You’re able to see the house very much as it looked when Bronson Alcott, Margaret Fuller and Henry David Thoreau visited. Fortunately the house had remained in the Ripley family until 1939 when it was bought by the Trustees of Reservations who today maintain it as a house museum open to the public.
Visiting The Old Manse – Concord MA
The Old Manse is open year round. From mid-April through October the Old Manse is open daily. Weather permitting, the house is open Thursday through Sunday the rest of the year. Check the Trustees of Reservations website for more information.
The Old Manse is located at 269 Monument St, Concord, MA 01742. The phone number is 978-369-3909.
More House Museum Mondays
Battle Road Open House 2010
Daniel Chester French Minute Man Statue in Concord
Battle Road Open House 2010 On Saturday, September 18, 2010 the Minute Man National Park held a day-long open house. Battle Road Open House and Historic Trades Day provided a rare opportunity to visit almost a dozen Colonial-era houses, most of which are typically not open to the public. It also was a perfect day for kids with re-enactors demonstrating crafts and trades including blacksmithing, carving, rope making and more. And it was my chance to be a tourist in my own backyard.
This was the second Battle Road Open House day. Let’s hope they’ll make it an annual event.
The open house day was an old house enthusiast’s dream - a chance to see and compare so many houses of the same period.
Since I grew up in Concord during the years that the Park Service was acquiring much of the land and houses that make up the park I had some misgivings too. It wasn’t easy for home and business owners to have no say in the matter when the park was acquiring properties. But now, when open land is so often threatened by development, its’s wonderful to see the fields that line the Battle Road preserved. If we could just do something about the overhead wires – and the airport!
But I gulped when I realized that the parking area near Meriam’s Corner was the site of the former Willow Pond Kitchen. I worked at the Willow Pond for years – a time when the owner, Peter Sowkow, was battling with the NPS to keep the Kitchen open. It was a sad day when the restaurant closed.
One of the Park Rangers at the Meriam House showed me a vintage photo of the Willow Pond Kitchen that they keep in the office. It predates the time when I discovered the Willow Pond but so little changed there over the years it looked very familiar. The image is included in the slide show below.
I managed to see all but the two houses that are open regularly during the year, the Hartwell Tavern and the Wayside. Here’s the rest of the Battle Road Open House tour:
Jacob Whittemore Housein Lexington was built in the early 1700s and extensively renovated in the 1780s. On April 19, 1775 seven members of the Whittemore family fled the house as the battle drew near.
Captain William Smith House in Lincoln Captain Smith was commanding officer of the Lincoln Minute Men. He was also Abigail Adams’ brother and “Abigail Adams” greeted us at the door. The house was built in 1692 but restored by the Park Service to its appearance at the time of the Revolution.
Noah Brooks Tavern was built in 1798 on land that had been in the Brooks family since 1656. Though it postdates the Battle the NPS has kept the house because it is one of several owned by the Brooks family who owned adjacent farms. This spot became know as Brooks Village. The tavern was a popular gathering spot and remained in business until the 1850s. For part of the day Scottish Highland Cattle grazed in the fields outside the house.
Joshua Brooks House next door was also built just after the Revolution in 1779. The family ran a slaughterhouse and tannery across the street. At the time of the Revolution Joshua and his family lived in an earlier house on this site. Their son Joshua was a Minute Man.
The Job Brooks House across the street dates from 1740. Job Brooks was a farmer and a currier at the Brooks Tannery. Today the National Park Service uses the house to store the Park’s archival collections. There was an amazing sampling of artifacts found around the Park on exhibit in the house on Saturday.
Samuel Brooks House Parts of this house date to the 1690s. For 300 years, until the NPS purchased the house in 1963, all of the owners of the house were related in some way to the Brooks family. Outside the house, in the field out back. a Concord blacksmith demonstrated his craft.
Meriam House in Concord Meriam’s Corner was an important site on April 19, 1775. Here the Colonists lay in wait for the British soldiers and shots were fired. Two British soldiers died. The Meriam house, built in 1705, sits back from the road – a classic New England setting. It is one of the houses that is open on occasion during the year.
Barrett’s Farm On the other side of Concord, some two miles from the Old North Bridge, is the house of Colonel James Barrett. The British searched Barret’s house on April 19th but the artillery and ammunition they hoped to find had already been moved. The Barretts lived in the house for its first 200 years and then the McGrath family lived here for the next 100.
Today the Colonel Barrett house is in the midst of an extensive restoration after Save Our Heritage acquired it. Legislation has extended the Park Service’s boundaries to include the area around the farm. The open house day provided a fascinating look at a restoration in process.
Buttrick House It was Major John Buttrick who gave the first order to fire on the British. His house is close to the Old North Bridge. The two minute men killed at the bridge were brought to the house.
The Buttrick House was my last stop on the Battle Road Open House tour. It was closing time and the ladies were putting away the 18th century style dresses they had on display.
I took the trail down to the Old North Bridge and walked to the Old Manse. The house is maintained by the Trustees of the Reservation and I managed to catch the last tour. Afterwards, our guide encouraged us to pick some Concord grapes from the old vine aside the house – a marvelous end to a busy day.
More House Museum Monday Posts
The Battle Road Open House in Minute Man National Historic Park included houses in Lincoln, Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts.
General Artemas Ward House Museum
General Artemas Ward House Museum
General Artemas Ward House Musueum The General Artemas Ward House Museum is in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts but has more than one connection to Cambridge.
Artemas Ward was the General and commander-in-chief of the colony’s militia during the occupation of Cambridge that began shortly after the Battle of Lexington and Concord. By June he was named a Major General and second in command to George Washington who arrived in Cambridge on July 3, 1775.
Ward’s political service included serving as a delegate to the Continental Congress and serving in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1779 to 1785. He served as Speaker of the Massachusetts House in 1785 and was later twice elected to the United States Congress.
The house had been built by Ward’s father in 1727 and was home to generations of the Ward family. For almost two hundred years the property was a working farm and the enormous barn is one of the largest in New England.
In 1925 a wealthy Ward descendant donated the farm to Harvard University. Harvard maintains the house today as a museum.
The Artemas Ward House is a treat – filled with family furnishings and memorabilia and in largely unaltered condition. It’s wonderful to see what deep pockets can do – Harvard, unlike many small historical societies, has the money to maintain a property of this age and size in tip top condition.
The General Artemas Ward House Museum is open Wednesday to Saturday until late November. Check the website for more information about hours.
Admission is free – you can’t beat that!
More House Museum Mondays
The General Artemas Ward House Museum is located at 786 Main Street, Shrewsbury, Massachusetts
Cambridge In the Revolution Cell Phone Tour
Jonathan Sewall's House on Tory Row
Cambridge In the Revolution Cell Phone Tour After growing up in Concord I have to confess it’s easy to lose track of the impact of the American Revolution on other Massachusetts cities and towns.
Lately, most recently at the Cambridge Discovery Days in August, I’ve been learning more about Revolutionary War events in Cambridge. Cambridge was occupied twice by troops – first by the Continental Army and then by the British.
Now it’s possible to learn about Cambridge in the Revolution any time you want. Thanks to a project of the Cambridge Historical Society a cell phone tour of Cambridge sites impacted by the Revolutionary War is available.
You can download the tour map online and then while walking past the Cambridge sites call the tour number – 617-517-5990 – from your cell phone for recorded narratives about each site and its role in the Revolution.
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