Located at the first convenient Charles River crossing west of Boston, Newe Towne (later named Cambridge) was one of a number of towns (including Boston, Dorchester, Watertown, and Weymouth), founded in 1630s by the 700 original Puritan colonists of the Massachusetts Bay Colony under governor John Winthrop. The original village site is in the heart of today's Harvard Square, a large triangular area at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street, and John F. Kennedy Street. Adjacent to Harvard Yard, the historic heart of Harvard University, the Square (as it is sometimes called locally) functions as a commercial center for Harvard students, as well as residents of western Cambridge and the inner western and northern suburbs of Boston.
Read more »