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Porter Square is a neighborhood in
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and
Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81,045 people. With an area ...
, located around the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Somerville Avenue, between
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
and
Davis Davis may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Davis (Antarctica) * Davis Island (Palmer Archipelago) * Davis Valley, Queen Elizabeth Land Canada * Davis, Saskatchewan, an unincorporated community * Davis Strait, between Nunavut and Gre ...
Squares. The Porter Square station serves both the
MBTA The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network i ...
Red Line and the
Commuter Rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...
Fitchburg Line The Fitchburg Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system which runs from Boston's North Station to Wachusett station in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. The line is along the tracks of the former Fitchburg Railroad, which was built across northe ...
. A major part of the
Lesley University Lesley University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. As of 2018-19 Lesley University enrolled 6,593 students (2,707 undergraduate and 3,886 graduate). History ...
campus is located within the Porter Square area. In 2004–06 the principal intersection, including the area adjacent to the shopping center, underwent extensive construction both to improve access for vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists, and mass transit users, and to improve drainage and storm water conditions. The artist Toshihiro Katayama of
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
, in conjunction with the landscape architect Cynthia Smith, designed a new visual look for the new circulation design, including contrasting light and dark concrete paving, stone walls and boulders.


History

Previously called Union Square, Porter Square was renamed in 1899 for the now-vanished Porter's Hotel, operated by Zachariah B. Porter, who also left his name to the hotel's specialty, the cut of steak known as porterhouse. The hotel was demolished in 1909.Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge: Northwest Cambridge, 1977, , Cambridge Historical Commission, Cambridge, Massachusetts. pp. 164-65 The square, formerly flanked by cattle yards that used the Porter rail head to transport their beef throughout the US, was an important center for commerce and light industry as early as the late 18th century. A tunnel for moving cattle to and from the railroad without interfering with street traffic, known as the
Walden Street Cattle Pass The Walden Street Cattle Pass, also referred to as the cow path,
Cambridge Department of Public Works
, was built in 1857. The tunnel survives under the nearby Walden Street Bridge, and in 2007–08 was preserved and restored. The "most dramatic loss" of early 19th century landscape in the square was the leveling of the old Rand Estate in 1952 to make way for the Porter Square Shopping Center. In 1984 the Red Line was extended from
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
through Porter and
Davis Square Davis Square is a major intersection in the northwestern section of Somerville, Massachusetts where several streets meet: Holland Street, Dover Street, Day Street, Elm Street, Highland Avenue, and College Avenue. The name is often used to refer ...
to its present terminus at Alewife, a project that also left Porter with its most visible landmark, Susumu Shingu's 46-foot painted steel and aluminum kinetic sculpture entitled
Gift of the Wind ''Gift of the Wind'' is a large-scale public kinetic sculpture, by Susumu Shingu, located in Porter Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts at the Porter, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway and commuter rail station. The art work consis ...
. Porter Square railroad history is covered in greater detail in the Porter Square station article.


Lesley University

Lesley University continues to expand in the Porter Square neighborhood, with the relocation of its College of Art and Design to the
North Prospect Church North Avenue Congregational Church (now known as John and Carol Moriarty Library, and previously as Old Cambridge Baptist Church and North Prospect Congregational Church and Prospect Hall) is a historic church meetinghouse at 1801 (previously a ...
and a new building built on the church's former site at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Roseland Street. In addition to University Hall at 1815 Massachusetts Avenue and the Lunder Arts Center at 1801 Massachusetts Avenue, Lesley also has administrative offices at 815 Somerville Avenue and parking areas across Massachusetts Avenue from University Hall.


Shopping


Porter Square Shopping Center

The Porter Square Shopping Center consists of two buildings and a parking lot. As of July 2017, it is home to the following stores & eateries:


Porter Square Galleria

Adjacent to the Porter Square Shopping Center is a small mall called the Porter Square Galleria. In recent years it has lost several large tenants. A Target is being built in the space formerly occupied by Walgreens. As of September 2018, it is home to: *
Anna's Taqueria Anna's Taqueria is a chain of fast-service Mexican-fusion restaurants in the Boston area. Overview Anna's is modeled after U.S. West Coast style Mexican cuisine, specifically the Mission-style burrito of San Francisco. Its menu offers only four ...
* Sprint *Parelli Optical


The Shops at Porter and local "Japantown"

A prominent feature of the Porter Square skyline is the tower on the
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...
-style building located at 1815 Massachusetts Avenue. The building, now known as University Hall, was originally a
Sears, Roebuck Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began ...
store from 1928 to 1985. In 1991, Lesley University began leasing classroom space there, and in 1994 the university bought the building, which now houses its Graduate School of Education, bookstore, administrative offices, art and dance studios, and classrooms. Porter Square and The Shops at Porter have a recent history of being a center for Boston's Japanese community. In May 2009, Lesley University ousted Kotobukiya, a Japanese grocery store, from The Shops at Porter, after 20 years in business there. Lesley wanted the space to expand its bookstore. As of July 2017, The Shops at Porter is home to many Japanese eateries and businesses. Izakaya Ittoku and Shaking Crab are full-size restaurants, and the other eateries are located in a food court-like area with limited seating.


Other restaurants

Other restaurants in the area (as of July 2017) include:


References

{{Reflist, 2


External links


Description of Porter Square design project
from Cambridge Arts Council
PSNA
Porter Square Neighbors Association Asian-American culture in Massachusetts Japantowns in the United States Neighborhoods in Cambridge, Massachusetts Squares in Somerville, Massachusetts Squares in Cambridge, Massachusetts