The neighborhood name Strawberry Hill (Area 13) refers to the area between Homer Avenue and Grove Street in Cambridge. Starting off as part of Watertown, conveyed to Belmont (1859), and finally annexed to Cambridge (1880), the story of “Strawberry Hill” is a little complicated. The establishment of this neighborhood navigated varying groups of investors, two different surveyors, changing official street names, and established colloquial names for the area.
Broadly speaking, this western most area of Cambridge was generally known as “Mount Auburn.” Strawberry Hill was originally part of the Bird-Coburn estate in Watertown.
Fun Fact: This was the same Bird family that owned “Bird’s Tavern,” at the junction of Mt Auburn and Belmont Streets (near the current Star Market). In 1758 this 17th century residence became a tavern run by Edward Richardson. In 1795 Jonathan Bird bought the property. During his ownership Bird established Watertown’s first public lending library on the premises. He also ran a music school. By 1830 the town plan of Watertown lists the property as “Wyeth’s Hotel.” The building was demolished around 1892.
Development
The advent of the omnibus route to Mount Auburn in 1845 as well as a new stop on the Watertown Branch Railroad made the area ripe for development. The Strawberry Hill residential development came into being when a group of investors hired both surveyors Alexander Wadsworth (1806-1898) in 1847, and John Low in 1848 to map it for two adjacent developments: Wadsworth platted most of Strawberry Hill, while John Low platted an area including “Auburn Place” (now Homer Ave) for house lots.
It is not quite clear why this area was named Strawberry Hill. Strawberries likely had little to do with the selection, although an article in the Cambridge Chronicle from October 9, 1941 made that claim. The name may have derived from Horace Walpole’s renowned estate and gardens in England of the same name. When Walpole sold his estate in 1842, local newspapers published lavish descriptions of the property. During the early to mid-19th century “Strawberry Hill” became a popular name for estates, farms, parks, and hotels across the country. The name evoked a certain elan, a romantic setting in this case complete with a view over Fresh Pond. Developers may have hoped the name would appeal to the middle-class buyers they wanted to attract. Its location across the street from the popular Mount Auburn Cemetery added cache to the neighborhood.
The reason Cambridge wanted to acquire the land was to have more control over the town’s water supply at Fresh Pond, which was threatened by runoff of two other ponds to the west: Cider Mill Pond and Bird’s Pond. More about them later.
Sales
House lots were auctioned:
“PERSONS who intend purchasing lots for building in the neighborhood of Boste, are invited to examine the lots on Strawberry Hill, which is bounded by Belmont street on one side, by Fresh Pond on the other, and intersected by avenues 40 feet in width. On the grounds are a large number of forest trees, and grafted fruit trees. It is pleasantly diversified by hill and valley, and the land being of the very best quality gives every opportunity for the cultivation of fruit of all kinds.
The location is unsurpassed, being opposite Mount Auburn, contiguous to Fresh Pond, little more than a mile from Harvard University, with easy communication with the city, the depot of the Watertown Branch Railroad being within four minutes’ walk of the farthest part of the estate, and the passage by the cars being only fifteen to twenty minutes from the depot of the Fitchburg Railroad, in Boston, on Haverhill Street, (which is nearly finished). The Cambridge omnibuses leaving Mount Auburn gate every hour or half hour, renders Strawberry Hill one of the most desirable places of residence for the retired gentleman or the active business man. These lots will be offered at low prices, and for dwellings only, and no artizans [sic] or mechanic’s shops will be allowed erection on the premises….”
To discourage the “hoi-polloi,” deed restrictions required houses be a minimum of two stories on lots not less than 1,000 feet. For the same reason a purchaser had to be a native born American. No businesses were allowed, specifically including soap boiling, tanning, distilling, chandlers, tin men, bleachers, brickmakers and stablers.
Initially sales were slow, in part because of these restrictions and the concomitant financial crisis of 1848. Eventually restrictions were loosened and by the 1860s sales picked up – – only to be stalled again by a subsequent financial crisis in 1873.
Street Names Evolution in the Neighborhood
The 1854 map at the top of this piece shows Cushing and Kirkland streets parallel to one another other. In 1880 Kirkland Street was renamed Holworthy Street to eliminate confusion with the Kirkland Street in Mid Cambridge. It was named after English merchant Sir. Matthew Holworthy (1608-1678), a major contributor to Harvard University, and after whom Holworthy Hall is also named.
Cushing Street was named after John Perkins Cushing (1786-1862), a merchant in the China Trade. At one point Cushing and Holworthy streets were known as “East Village.”
Auburn Place (part of the land John Low surveyed) changed to Homer Ave. in 1899.
Vineyard St. was originally named Vine Street when laid out in 1848.
Prospect Street evolved to become Woodlawn Ave, which was eliminated in 1893 when the City took over the property by eminent domain to extend Huron Ave to Grove Street (over a road that was previously a continuation of Cushing Street veering left at the approach to Fresh Pond). The houses on the street were sold at auction by the City, and buildings were required to be moved within 30 days:
Fun Fact: At least three streets in the vicinity were given Scandinavian names after Harvard professor Eben Horsford’s theory that the Vikings landed in Cambridge. Such streets include Thingvalla Ave, Ericsson Street, and Norumbega Street.
Those Pesky Ponds: Cider Mill Pond and Bird’s Pond
The map below illustrates the proximity of both ponds to the Strawberry Hill Development and Fresh Pond.
The Cambridge Water Department was concerned about seepage from both ponds contaminating the main water source of the City’s water at Fresh Pond. The streams ran through farmland in Belmont carrying vegetable, human, and animal effluvia deposited in both ponds. Neither pond had an outlet. So, while fun for skating in the winter, in the summer the smaller ponds became stagnant, bred mosquitoes, produced a stench, and, through seepage, contaminated Fresh Pond. Debates about how to eliminate the contamination went on for decades. A system of storm drains and connecting sewers eliminated part, but not all, of the problem. Finally, both ponds were drained and filled in.
Fun Fact: The Rifle Range at the Cider Mill Pond
Before the outcry over sewage from the pond began, there was another dust up over the rifle range established in the area. In 1888, the City leased land adjacent to the pond for a military rifle range. Right off the bat there were problems with bullets going astray and hitting houses.
The rifle range was closed in 1894. Later, a murder victim was deposited in the pond:
By 1970 the pond had been filled in, and zoning was approved for the apartment building called Parkside Place at 700 Huron Avenue.
Birds Pond was also drained, filled in, and in the early 1950’s a subdivision called Corcoran Park was built on the premises for low-income housing. (Back in the day, the aforementioned Professor Horsford also thought that the “amphitheater” at Birds Pond was used by the Vikings.) The housing project was named for John H. Corcoran, Mayor (1942-1945) later City Manager and chairman of the Housing Authority:
A few well-known residents of Strawberry Hill include Mayor William F. Brooks and Governor Charles F. Hurley
Today
After deed restrictions were loosened, most of the homes built were small, single family worker’s cottages. Many of these homes have been remodeled—in fact, in 2024 you’d be hard put to find a single family home in Strawberry Hill for a less than a million dollars.
Today’s post was written by CHC volunteer Kathleen M. Fox
Sources
Ancestry.com
Atlascope
Cambridge Buildings and Architects database by Christopher Hail: https://wayback.archive-it.org/5488/20170330145516/http:/hul.harvard.edu/lib/archives/refshelf/cba/.
Cambridge Historical Commission files
Cambridge Public Library’s Historic Cambridge Newspaper Collection: https://cambridge.dlconsulting.com/.
“Cambridge Neighborhoods – Strawberry Hill” by Elizabeth Bolton (March 9, 2009). Centers & Squares. https://centersandsquares.com/2009/03/09/cambridge-neighborhoods-strawberry-hill/.
“Coastal Neighborhoods.” Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty. https://www.coastalneighborhoods.com/strawberry-hill/.
Genealogybank.com
Maps in the collections of the Watertown Public Library: https://www.watertownlib.org/246/Maps.
Newspapers.com
Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge, Volume 5: Northwest Cambridge by Cambridge Historical Commission (1977)