When Was Your House Built?

God bless Christopher Hail, assistant librarian of the Harvard School of Design, who began the onerous task of compiling a list of every structure in Cambridge back in 1978. Using a variety of public records, he's created a little synopsis for each address. It should be noted that some dates may differ from other sources as he's attached only records that were definitive. A house tax record of 1843, for example, may mean your house was built in 1841 but did not definitively appear in tax records until 1843.

Mr. Hail notes that this database should be used a framework for further research. The entire database can be found at the Harvard/Radcliffe Online Historical Reference Desk.

Cottage Street - laid out in 1816, named in 1839

#3, 1849*
#5-7, 1851*

*These two houses, referred to as the "Valentine Soap Workers Cottages" are on the National Historical Register of Historic Places and are recorded as being built in 1835.

#6, 1856
#8, 1843
#9, 1867
#10, 1873
#11, 1868
#12, 1846
#13, 1866
#14, 1890

#14-1/2, 1846 - this house was originally built at the street and was moved to the rear when the triple-decker at #14 was built.

#15, 1867

#16-18, 1981*
*#16 was originally the Methodist Epicopal chapel built in 1872.  A double house (16-18 Cottage Street) was built in 1888.  This house was destroyed by fire in about 1978

#19, 1883
#20, 1870
#20A, 1887
#21, 1863
#23, 1886
#24, 1838

Across Magazine Street are the following houses:

#30-34, 1881
#35, 1843
#36, 1845
#37, 1844
#39-41, 1846
#40, 1839
#43-45, 1856
#44, 1839
#46, 1910
#47, 1914
#48, 1839
#49, 1866
#50, 1846

There's a great deal more information on this site including owners' names at different points over the years.  This is valuable information if you'd like to research your house's former residents on Ancestry.com.  Armed with information from this site and the maps we've provided, you can research these people using Ancestry's 14-day free trial.