Catholic churches have long served as East Cambridge’s cornerstones

his is an interior view of a very ornate, Gothic-style church altar. The photograph is taken from the perspective of the congregation, looking toward the front. The main focus is the massive, multi-tiered reredos (altarpiece) behind the altar, which is covered in intricate carvings and statues, featuring spires and pinnacles. Above the reredos is a large, tall arched window with stained glass. The surrounding church walls have pillars and arches, with statues in niches on the sides.

By Beth Folsom, 2025 For many who settled in East Cambridge, the Catholic Church was an important and enduring institution. Catholicism was largely a faith practiced by newcomers to the neighborhood in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but despite having a religion in common, members of the area’s various ethnic communities preferred to worship…

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Feb 16: We Were Here

Monday, February 16, 20266:30 pmFoundry Theater101 Rogers Street, CambridgeFree; no registration required Back by popular demand! We Were Here: An Enhanced Performance Arranged and written by Betsy Bard and Micaela León Perdomo, We Were Here is a play exploring the history of immigrant workers at the Blake & Knowles Foundry in East Cambridge by Youth…

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East Cambridge History Hub

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

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…

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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…

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