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…

Read More

Simeone’s 

Compiled by Deb Mandel, 2022 Years  1949-1976 Locations 41 Pearl St. (1946-1949) 21 Brookline St. (1949-1976) History Simeone’s, whose motto was, “choice foods skillfully prepared served promptly and courteously,” opened on February 24, 1949 on Brookline street in Central Square, after moving from its original 60-seat 41 Pearl St. location. Its menu included pizza, popular…

Read More

Cardullo’s Gourmet Shop

Compiled by Deb Mandel, 2022 Years 1950-present Location 6 Brattle St., Harvard Square Website: https://cardullos.com/ History On April 1st, 1950, Frank Natali Cardullo set out to fill a niche supplying quality foods for the neighborhood’s international community. Cardullo was born in Messina, Italy in 1915 and came to Boston in 1929, originally to become a…

Read More

Some Aspects of the East Cambridge Story

By John W. Wood, 1956 “This paper gives a totally inadequate account of an appealingly picturesque and colorful neighborhood, the area that might have been a slum and isn’t, the step-child of the University City. “ – J. W. W. For some reason, the local history of East Cambridge has been almost completely neglected. It…

Read More