May 18: Inman Square events

📣 Double the fun in Inman Square on Sunday, May 18th from 12-4 PM Join History Cambridge for TWO exciting events happening simultaneously: 🍔 Inman Eats & Crafts (Cambridge Street between Springfield & Prospect): Presented by the East Cambridge Business Association (ECBA), indulge in delicious bites from local restaurants (get your Inman Bucks), browse unique…

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Innovation in Cambridge

Innovation in Cambridge. Left side is black and white photo of person working at a brick factory. On right is person seated in a lab coat with rubber gloves.

Researched and written by Katie MacDonald, 2012 Introduction It’s nearly impossible to get through a single day without using something born right here in Cambridge. Think about it: from the childhood vaccines that protected you to the software powering your computer, the ice cooling your drink, or the screen displaying this very text – Cambridge’s…

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May 17: Born in North Cambridge: A Guided Tour

Born in North Cambridge: A Guided Tour over a 1903 Bromley map

Saturday, May 17, 20252-3:30 pmFree; registration requiredLimited space availableWeather date: Sunday, May 18 at 2 pm As of Friday, May 16, this event is taking place rain or shine! About the tour Join authors Karen Weintraub and Michael Kuchta for a series of free tours exploring Cambridge’s legacy of innovation, adaptation, and revolutionary ideas. Based…

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Now April 27!: Ideas, Invention, and Imagination: A Guided Tour of Cambridgeport

"Ideas, Invention, and Imagination. A Guided tour of Cambridgeport" text over an 1894 Bromley map of Cambridgeport

Switching to the rain date! This tour is now Sunday, April 27 at 2 pm Saturday, April 26, 20252-3:30 pmFree; registration requiredLimited space availableWeather date: Sunday, April 27 at 2 pm About the tour Join authors Karen Weintraub and Michael Kuchta for a series of free tours exploring Cambridge’s legacy of innovation, adaptation, and revolutionary…

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The great fire of 1963 and the end of meat packing in East Cambridge

Multistory building with smoke coming out of the windows. Numerous firefighters shoot streams of water into the windows.

By Michael Kuchta, 2025 On the afternoon of April 14, 1963, Easter Sunday, a spectacular fire consumed the Squire’s meatpacking plant on Gore Street in East Cambridge. More than 500 firefighters from Cambridge and surrounding communities worked to subdue the flames. Hot embers were carried by the thick smoke and fell onto buildings as far…

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May 13: History Café: Squire’s Meat and East Cambridge’s Fight for Change

History Cafe: Industry, Labor, and Community. Squire's Meat and East Cambridge's Fight for Change. Drawing of a Squire's lard bucket.

Industry, Labor, and Community: Squire’s Meat and East Cambridge’s Fight for Change Tuesday, May 136-7 pmEast Cambridge Savings Bank292 Cambridge Street Thanks to everyone for joining us! About the event From the time of its founding in the 1840s, the John P. Squire & Co. meat processing plant was a major force in East Cambridge…

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East Cambridge History Hub

Map of City of Cambridge with neighborhoods outlined. East Cambridge is highlighted in purple

2025 is our year of East Cambridge See what events we’ve got planned! A Brief History of East Cambridge The area that we now know as East Cambridge was for many centuries largely salt marshes and mud flats which, at low tide, virtually cut the area off from other parts of the city, as well…

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