According to the “Brief Notes” section of the Cambridge Chronicle from March 22, 1884, “Roller skating rinks are booming in Cambridge.” The June 14th edition declared “Everybody goes to the skating rink now.” At this time, a new skating rink was under construction at 30-50 Prospect Street in Cambridgeport.
Detail of Hopkins Map (1886)
At the time of the Prospect St rink construction, roller skating rinks were already under heavy use at Union Hall around the corner on Mass Ave and in Harvard Square, and a petition to erect another rink on Green Street was making its way through the city government.
Worcester skating rink, Worcester, Mass., undated. The bottom of the image reads “225 x 100 feet, floor 175 x 73 feet.”. Historic New England.
The economy of Cambridgeport was highly-industrialized, and included ventures in soap-making, musical instrument manufacturing, and confectioneries, among others. A steady influx of immigrant labor allowed these businesses to expand exponentially along with the population, which grew by nearly 10,000 each decade in the mid-nineteenth century. Residents new and old sought recreation to fill idle moments between work and daily obligations.
Roller skating guide (1884) Archives & Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut Libraries
The United States, and East Coast cities in particular, saw a surge in roller skating popularity after Medfield, Mass native James Plimpton patented an improved version of the roller stake that allowed for more steering control.
Pair of Roller Skates (with leather straps and metal buckles). Sarah Moore Field Collection, Historic New England
To meet this increased demand for skating venues, rinks were constructed at a furious rate during the late 19th century. Construction of rinks in Cambridge allowed residents the convenience of leisure and recreation in their own city rather than making the trek into Boston.
Wood engraving after a sketch by Miss Georgie Davis titled “District of Columbia – glimpses of life at the national capital – a fashionable roller-skating rink” (1880)
The Prospect Skating Academy, as it was known, held a grand opening in May 1884. The ceremony and ensuring party included music by the Cambridge Orchestral Society and “an exhibition of fancy skating.” These events were held frequently, and often included an evening of full entertainment. Costume parties,
Advertisement in the Cambridge Chronicle (3 October 1885)
Despite the rink’s popularity, the building was razed just ten years after it was built, replaced by a row of three-story retail stores in 1895.
Prospect St 30 9 (ca. 1946)
A fire destroyed most of this newer building in 1948, and as a result, the complex was converted to the one-story line of retail stores that stands today. Current businesses include Improv Boston, Jimmy’s Shoe Repair, and The Boston Tattoo Company.
30 Prospect St following the fire in December 1948 30 Prospect Street (July 2018). Google Street View
We have recently added three new collection finding aids and five old but newly updated finding aids to our website. Check out the list below, and email us at chcarchives@cambridgema.gov to research any of these collections.
New!
Scully Family Collection
This collection relates to two generations of the Scully family, beginning with Daniel Scully, a Cambridge cooper who emigrated from Ireland in 1872. He married another Irish immigrant in Cambridge, Mary Tackney, who worked as a waitress. They had 8 children and the collection heavily focuses on two of their sons, James and George. Topics include service in WWII, the St. Mary Church of Annunciation in Cambridgeport, Irish heritage, U.S. citizenship, and Norumbega Park in Auburndale, Mass. The records in the collection were created between 1872-1970 and consist of official documents, commemorative pins, photographic materials, a newspaper, and large objects.
Noteworthy items include a water-front port pass, a cooper’s mallet, and a grappling hook that connect Daniel Scully to the Goepper Bros. Co. and the Revere Sugar Refinery, two companies with locations in Cambridge. There is also an encased tintype and photographs that display the family’s residence on Spring Street. Find out more about the collection and the background history of the family here.
Daniel Scully’s cooper’s mallet and grappling hook. Image from our Flickr album, photograph by John Dalterio.
Watson Funeral Home Collection
The Watson Funeral Home Collection consists of photographs, certificates, clippings and ephemera related to the Watson Funeral Home, a 20th century business in Cambridge that was once on Magazine Street. The funeral home was run by Charles Burnett Watson and the collection holds content about his conversion of the Greek Revival house into his business. Other items include his Old Farmer’s Almanac, newspaper clippings about the house, and matchbook advertisements. Click here to learn more about Watson’s biography and read the collection’s inventory.
Carter’s Ink Collection
This collection contains ephemera relating to the Carter’s Ink Company that was collected by John Hinkel, a “labeled master inks” collector from Missouri. The Carter’s Ink Company was a nationally-prominent manufacturer of inks and office supplies. The bulk of this collection consists of advertisements, internal corporate documents, and external publications. The independently produced advertisements range from cardstock illustrations, postcards, bottle-shaped adverts, a calendar, and a dictionary. The corporate documents have information pertinent to general workers, including employee rules, as well as the official company newsletter.
To get a taste of what is present in this collection, some of the items have been digitized and uploaded to our Flickr. Click here to view the album.
Carter’s Ink Advertisement Card. Image from our flickr.
Updated or Digitized Collections:
Alfred E. Vellucci Snapshot Collection:
Vellucci was once mayor of Cambridge and this collection reflects a public relations project from 1976. Images are now digitized and available for viewing on our Flickr page here. Click here to read the original post highlighting this collection.
Rindge Technical School
We have uploaded two albums to our Flickr page concerning the school. The Rindge Technical School Collection album contains digitized images selected from Box 1 of the collection. This box holds sports photographs from 1912-1922. Click here to see players from the football, crew, hockey, track, swimming, and baseball teams. If you would like to learn more about the entire collection, click here.
The other album, Rindge Technical School Construction – 1932 includes a selection of large-print negatives that reflect the school demolition and construction project conducted in 1932-1933. The new building was designed by architect Ralph Harrington Doane and built by the George A. Fuller Company. These negatives and others have been printed and bound in “Rindge Technical School, started Feb. 2 1932, completed Jan. 12 1933” by George A. Fuller Co. The book is available for viewing in the CHC Library. Click here to view the album.
Cambridge Objects Collection – new objects and new photographs on Flickr
Additional images of objects from the Cambridge Objects Collection have been uploaded to the Flickr album. This is an artificial collection of objects relating to various aspects of Cambridge history. Click here to check them out and click here to read the finding aid!
An Ashton Valve Company pressure gauge, ca. 1923-1924
Rindge Technical School Bowl and Mug
Curtis Mellen Photograph Collection
This collection has recently been reorganized and an updated finding aid has been published here. The collection consists of photographs of the family as well as interior and exterior views of the family’s homes in Cambridge. The Mellens were a very prominent family in Cambridge, and their soap business, Curtis Davis & Co., became the American branch of Lever Brothers, the largest soap manufacturer in the world at the time. To see what is available in the collection, we uploaded select images to a Flickr album here.
Harry Havelock Hanson Collection
Recently, we created the Handsome Harry Hanson StoryMap. It tells the story of occasional Cambridge resident Harry Havelock Hanson in a walking tour format. This StoryMap allows you to follow an online map and images around Harvard Square as though you were actually there. Follow the tour to learn about the exciting exploits of Harry Havelock Hanson, as recorded in his calendar entries between 1891 and 1919. Click here to check it out!
This collection is primarily composed of the daily pocket diaries of Harry Havelock Hanson, occasional Cambridge resident and career railway man. It also contains some personal papers belonging to Hanson and his family. The finding aid for the collection is available here.
