Posts Tagged ‘industry’
Now April 27!: Ideas, Invention, and Imagination: A Guided Tour 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…
Read MoreThe great fire of 1963 and the end of meat packing in East Cambridge
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…
Read MoreMay 13: History Café: Squire’s Meat and East Cambridge’s Fight for Change
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…
Read MoreNew England Glass and the history of glassmaking in East Cambridge
By Beth Folsom, 2025 The Cambridge papers announced in April 1850 that the New England Glass Co. was building an enormous chimney for its glassworks site on North Street in East Cambridge. With a 30-square-foot base, the chimney would climb to 240 feet, “20 feet higher than the Bunker Hill Monument!” This construction was a…
Read MoreHow the highlighter was invented in Cambridge by Carter’s Ink, an innovator back to the 1800s
By Michael Kuchta, 2025 History Cambridge is spending 2025 focused on the history of East Cambridge, including the people who have inhabited the neighborhood, the occupations that employed them and the buildings, streets and public places they created. This is the story of a company that was based in East Cambridge for decades, Carter’s Ink.…
Read MoreEast Cambridge History Hub
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 as from Boston. The rich oyster beds contained there served as an important…
Read MoreJuly 25: Play with Clay at Danehy Park
Thursday, July 251-3 pmDanehy Park (near Sherman Street)Free; no registration requiredAges 3+ North Cambridge was once home to a thriving brickmaking industry. Join us for a family-friendly drop-in event at Danehy Park to learn more about the history and get your hands dirty with clay. Want to learn more about Cambridge’s brick history? Check out…
Read MoreJune 11: Play with Clay on Cambridge Common
Tuesday, June 115-7 pmCambridge CommonFree; no registration requiredAges 3+ Cambridge was once home to a thriving brickmaking industry. Join us for a family-friendly drop-in event on Cambridge Common to learn more about the history and get your hands dirty with clay. Want to learn more about Cambridge’s brick history? Check out these resources on our…
Read MoreSetting up a Neighborhood History Center provided a physical connection with the past
By Beth Folsom, 2024 History Cambridge embarked on a new model of programming in January 2023 centered on the deeper exploration of one city neighborhood each year. Beginning with Cambridgeport and continuing in 2024 with North Cambridge, the Neighborhood History Center model has enabled us to delve more deeply into the people, places and events…
Read MoreThe Pit That Wants to be a Pond: An Industrial and Environmental Tour of North Cambridge
Thanks to everyone who came out to learn more about North Cambridge through an industrial and environmental lens. We were pleased to be joined by Eric Grunebaum to learn more about the history of Jerry’s Pit. We appreciated everyone’s insights and great questions! This tour will explore the development of North Cambridge through the lens…
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