Cambridge Common

Cambridge Common Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
File:CambridgeCommon1808.jpg
View of the Cambridge Common, ca. 1808-09, with Harvard College on the left and Christ Church on the right.
Location	Roughly NW of Waterhouse St. on Concord Ave. between Garden and Follen Sts., Cambridge, Massachusetts
Area	8.5 acres (3.4 ha)
Built	1770
Architectural style	Greek Revival, Federal
MPS	Cambridge MRA
NRHP Reference #	87000499
Added to NRHP	January 26, 1987

Cambridge Common is a public park in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. It is located near Harvard Square and borders on several parts of Harvard University. This park is a popular place to play kickball, softball, soccer, and frisbee. The north end of the park has a large playground. The park is maintained by the Cambridge Department of Public Works.

History

A modern view of the common

Cambridge Common

General George Washington gathered troops on Cambridge Common during the American Revolutionary War. A commemorative plaque marks the location of the Washington Elm, a tree under which legend claims Washington stood as he first assumed command of the Continental Army. Nearby is a trio of bronze cannons, a plaque for Henry Knox, and another for Tadeusz Kościuszko.

Slightly southeast of the center of the Common is a memorial to the American Civil War with a statue of Abraham Lincoln in a covered area near the base of the memorial. On top of the memorial is a statue of a soldier.

Cambridge Common is also the site of an Irish Famine Memorial, dedicated on July 23, 1997 by then President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, and unveiled to an audience of 3,000 people. The Memorial sculpture was created by Maurice Harron, a sculptor from Derry, Northern Ireland. There is a similar memorial in downtown Boston.

Gallery

• 

  Civil War Memorial

• 

  The Great Hunger in Ireland Memorial

See also

• Cambridge Common Historic District

References

• Cambridge Common Irish Famine Memorial (archived 2007)