Do you know what this is?
The white card above is an example of a property record card from the Dudley & Borland Real Estate and Insurance Company of Cambridge. The company was founded circa 1927 by Robert Parker Dudley (1900-1983) and James Post Borland (1900-1979). Focusing primarily on properties in West Cambridge, their offices were appropriately located at 1374 Mass Ave in Harvard Square.
Both Dudley and Borland were active in the Cambridge Boy Scouts and various Cambridge organizations. Among other professional activities, Dudley served as a member of the board of the Cambridge Savings Bank and was President of the Society of Real Estate Appraisers. Borland served on the Boston Real Estate Board, Brokers Division, in the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce.
The Cambridge Historical Commission acquired the Dudley & Borland Card Collection in 2021 through the generosity of long-time Cambridge real estate broker Robert (Bob) Crocker, then-owner of the company’s final iteration, Dudley & Borland Ellis & Andrews. Mr. Crocker was a member of the Cambridge Historical Commission and former vice-President of the Cambridge Historical Society, now History Cambridge.
The Dudley Borland Card Collection covers the period from 1927-1979. Each of these white cards contains a record of all the transactions on a single property over a period of years, scribbled in different colored inks. This detailed content on nearly 3,000 properties on 366 Cambridge streets is stunning! Details include the names and contact numbers of owners, the number of floors, the number of rooms and their layout, and the number of baths. Also included are financial town assessment and mortgage histories, construction details, land improvements such as shrubbery and general landscaping, and whether a garage was built on the premises. It is interesting to note that proximity to nearby local grade schools was included on the cards, giving us a clue to the company’s target audience and marketing strategy.
Equally stunning are the nearly 900 photographs in the collection. Visual representation is important in historical preservation and research. In some instances, these photographs provide the Commission with its first photographic record of a home. Often, these photographs fill a visual void and allow us to see what a particular building looked like before subsequent additions, alterations, or demolition.
In addition, there are photos of land that was less developed than we might see today, such as this photograph showing the corner of Reservoir and Highland Streets:
A particular property may often contain a “Comparative Sales Chart” document. This is another source of general information about housing costs in similar neighborhoods at the time:
Additional color-coded, cards in the collection include typed information in brief on date of sale and owner or seller—perhaps tracking real estate deals made by other brokers on houses that might eventually come under the Dudley Borland purview.
Also present are clippings of obituaries from local newspapers featuring many property owners. The inclusion of these clippings adds to the understanding of Dudley & Borland’s market and the essence of the times.
Some of the homes that Dudley & Borland bought or sold had previously passed through the hands of the Ellis Andrews Company real estate firm operating in the same territory. Founded in 1888 (and going through several name changes), Ellis & Andrews was Cambridge’s oldest real estate company. In 1994, the Cambridge Historical Commission received a collection of Ellis & Andrews’ correspondence covering years primarily between 1893-1936. The collection is memorable for the late 19th and early 20th century social conditions and biases revealed in its correspondents. For more information on this collection, see our blog post from 2017: The Ellis & Andrews Real Estate Collection.
There was an overlap in the years both firms were active, especially in the earlier part of the 20th century:
After the original founders of both companies passed on, each company was bought or associated with other real estate/insurance companies. Around 1995, the companies merged, forming Dudley & Borland Ellis & Andrews. This version of the company also passed through several owners.
These two collections represent over 100 years of real estate transactions in Cambridge. Not only do they contribute to our understanding of the evolution of specific properties and neighborhoods, but they also fill out an overall sense of the times.
Today’s post was written by Kathleen M. Fox
