Looking north across Massachusetts Avenue, down Prospect Street, from River Street.
Looking north across Massachusetts Avenue, down Prospect Street, from River Street,
Looking north across Massachusetts Avenue, down Prospect Street, from River Street, 2010.

Only two buildings survive from the 1910 photograph: the three-story frame building on the right corner of Mass. Ave. and Prospect Street, and the two-story brick structure to its right. The much-altered frame building (1814; now Starbucks) was originally the home of Thomas Dowse, a successful leather dresser who became a prominent book collector and bibliophile. His extensive library of rare books, paintings, and engravings is now at the Massachusetts Historical Society. The handsome brick Grant Building, on the opposite corner, was used as retail and office space from 1873 to 1967.

Historic image: Postcard Collection, Cambridge Historical Commission, ca. 1910


Photograph: Phyllis Bretholtz, 2010

“Central Square: Then and Now” portrays the history and vibrancy of Central Square over the past century. The project is a collaboration of the Clear Conscience Café, the Cambridge Historical Society, the Cambridge Historical Commission, and Phyllis Bretholtz.