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30-537: The name "Harvard Square" can also refer to the entire neighborhood surrounding this intersection for several blocks in each direction, including Brattle Square, a block away, and the nearby Cambridge Common . The Common is a park area with a playground, baseball field, and a number of monuments, several relating to the Revolutionary War . The heart of Harvard Square is the junction of Massachusetts Avenue and Brattle Street . Massachusetts Avenue enters from

60-753: A block away, a gathering place for street musicians and buskers (who must obtain a permit from the Cambridge Arts Council). Singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman , who attended nearby Tufts University , is known to have played here during her college years. Amanda Palmer , of the Dresden Dolls , regularly performed here as a " living statue ". Another frequent performer over the years has been indie rock guitarist Mary Lou Lord . The Flying Karamazov Brothers also performed regularly in Brattle Square. A small bronze statue of "Doo Doo,"

90-536: A commercial center, the Square had famous residents in earlier periods, including the colonial poet Anne Bradstreet . Discussions of how the Square has changed in recent years usually center on the gentrification of the Harvard Square neighborhood and Cambridge in general. The Square also used to be a neighborhood shopping center, including a grocery store (Sages) and a Woolworth's five and ten . Although

120-584: A hardware store (Dickson Hardware at 26 Brattle Street) survived until 2021 amid chain drug stores and bank branches, the Square is mainly a regional rather than neighborhood shopping destination, serving students and commuters. [1] In 1981 and 1987 the Harvard Square Theater was converted into a multiplex cinema; it later became part of the Loews Cineplex Entertainment chain and then closed on July 8, 2012. During

150-543: A puppet created by Igor Fokin , sits at the corner of Brattle and Eliot streets, in honor of Fokin and all the street performers. Fokin performed regularly in Brattle Square after immigrating from Russa and before his untimely death. Until 1984, the Harvard Square stop was the northern terminus of the Red Line , and it still functions as a major transfer station between subway, bus, and trackless trolley. Most of

180-497: A second-story walk-up in Agassiz . The film continues to be screened annually to incoming freshmen at Harvard College during orientation week. The 1973 film The Paper Chase , set at Harvard Law School , features Harvard Square landmarks of its era, including the old Out of Town Newsstand, the old MBTA Harvard station kiosk with its "8 Minutes to Park Street" sign, and the now-defunct Kupersmith's Florists. The 1977 film Between

210-792: Is maintained by the Cambridge Department of Public Works. In the colonial period, Cambridge Common served as a pasture on which animals grazed. It was also used as a military training ground. It originally extended from what is now Linnaean Street in the north all the way south to Harvard Square between Massachusetts Avenue and Garden Street. Public executions took place in the northern portion of this space, known as Gallows Hill, located today west of Massachusetts Avenue around Lancaster Street. Executed at this site on September 22, 1755, were two enslaved African Americans, Mark and Phillis, who were both accused and convicted of poisoning their enslaver, John Codman of Charlestown . Phillis

240-572: Is now occupied by an ATM . Another long-time restaurant, the 64-year-old Leo's Place, closed in December 2013 when the landlord of the property terminated their lease. The student co-op, the Harvard/MIT Cooperative Society ("The Coop", founded in 1882) is now managed by Barnes & Noble , though it is still overseen by a board elected by its membership of Harvard and MIT students and staff. Schoenhof's Foreign Books

270-466: Is on the bank of the Charles River. Cambridge Common is two blocks north. The Square attracts activists for unconventional political factions and has its share of panhandlers . Although Tom Magliozzi derided it as "the bum capital of the world", it is a popular site to people-watch, having many benches, terraces, and sidewalk restaurants and cafes dedicated for that purpose. Although today

300-593: Is owned by the French Éditions Gallimard . Major bookstores Paperback Booksmith, Reading International, and Barilari Books had closed by the end of the 1990s. WordsWorth Books at 30 Brattle Street closed in 2004, after 29 years as a fixture in the Square. In the same year, the famous Grolier Poetry Bookshop announced that it would be sold (although it survived under new management). Globe Corner Bookstore converted to an exclusively online business, serving its last walk-in customer on July 4, 2011. Following national trends,

330-760: The Brattle Theater (est. 1953), the Hong Kong Chinese restaurant (est. 1954), Club Passim (est. 1958), Café Pamplona (est. 1959), Mr. Bartley's Burger Cottage (est. 1960), Million Year Picnic comics (est. 1970), Algiers Coffee House (est. 1970), and Grendel's Den (est. 1971). The 1969 film Goodbye, Columbus takes place in Harvard Square near the film's conclusion, after the Richard Benjamin character learns that his girlfriend, Brenda Potimkin (played by Ali MacGraw ), an undergraduate at Radcliffe College , had left her diaphragm in

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360-680: The Continental Army in a ceremony underneath the Washington Elm . Yet historical research suggests no such ceremony took place. The current space was not enclosed until 1830. Barracks were constructed on the common during World War I as the Navy Department built structures for its Radio School on the grounds. Cambridge Common has long been a site for public gatherings in which groups met before marching to Boston Common as part of protests for Civil Rights or against

390-651: The Vietnam War . Matt Damon recalled how Ben Affleck helped him in a fight during a football game on the Common in the mid-1980s. A commemorative plaque marks the location of the Washington Elm , a tree under which legend claims Washington stood as he first assumed command of the Continental Army . Nearby is the Prince Hall Monument by Ted Clausen and a trio of bronze cannons, a plaque for Henry Knox , and another for Tadeusz Kościuszko . In

420-669: The 1970s for its chocolate fondue . The 2015 game Fallout 4 features Harvard Square as an in-game location. Though the layout of the surrounding area is not accurate, the Cambridge visitor's Center kiosk is present. The radio show Car Talk ' s offices occupied the third floor of the Abbott Building from 1992 until the show's end in 2014. At the beginning of every episode, hosts Tom and Ray Magliozzi would state they were broadcasting from "Car Talk Plaza" in Harvard (though

450-600: The Lines features similar Harvard Square footage as well as aerial footage of the Back Bay. The 1994 film With Honors has a scene filmed in Harvard Square in which the Out of Town Newsstand is featured. In the scene, Monty approaches Simon as he (Simon) is attempting to sell newspapers he took out of a vending machine. Various parts of the 1997 film Good Will Hunting were filmed in and around Harvard Square, most notably at

480-521: The Wrench Turns , an animated television spin-off of Car Talk . Notes Citations Further reading Cambridge Common Cambridge Common is a public park and National Historic Landmark in Cambridge, Massachusetts , United States. It is located near Harvard Square and borders on several parts of Harvard University . The north end of the park has a large playground. The park

510-409: The bus lines serving the area from the north and west run through a tunnel adjacent to the subway tunnel. Originally built for streetcars (which last ran in 1958) and still used by trackless trolleys as well as ordinary buses, the tunnel lessens bus traffic in central Harvard Square, and lets buses cross the Square without encountering automobile traffic. The tunnel also allows covered access between

540-609: The executive director of the Cambridge Historical Commission ensured the sign's preservation, calling it "a character-defining feature of [the Abbott] building". In 2019, a commemorative plaque for Tom Magliozzi - who died in 2014 - was installed outside the Abbott Building beside the Harvard Red Line terminal. Harvard Square, called "Car Talk Plaza", is also the setting of Click and Clack's As

570-553: The former Tasty Sandwich Shop and the outdoor seating area of the square's largest Au Bon Pain café. The 2005 documentary film Touching History; Harvard Square, the Bank, and The Tasty Diner chronicles the changing face of the Square, as a small diner (The Tasty) closes its doors to make way for a large retail space. Ben Affleck shot portions of his film The Town (2010) in Grendel's Den on Winthrop Street, locally famous in

600-412: The former Harvard Trust Company has been absorbed into the national Bank of America through a series of mergers. Several establishments remain as longstanding, locally-run businesses with unique styles. Examples include Leavitt & Peirce tobacconists (est. 1883), Laflamme Barber Shop (est. 1898), Harvard Book Store (est. 1932), Cardullo's Gourmet Shoppe (est. 1950), Charlie's Kitchen (est. 1951),

630-988: The general neighborhood include the Cambridge Public Library , Lesley University , the Longy School of Music , the Episcopal Divinity School , the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School , American Repertory Theater , the Cooper-Frost-Austin House , the Hooper-Lee-Nichols House , and the Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site . The high pedestrian traffic makes Harvard Square and Brattle Square,

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660-544: The late 1990s, some locally run businesses with long-time shopfronts on the Square—;including the unusual Tasty Diner , a tiny sandwich shop open long hours, and the Wursthaus, a German restaurant with an extensive beer menu—closed to make way for national chains. Elsie's Lunch, a long-popular deli, has also closed; what remained of its small corner storefront space facing Lowell House on Mount Auburn Street

690-533: The late puppeteer, but to all street performers that are an integral part of the square. A number of public squares dot the surrounding streets, notably Brattle Square and Winthrop Square, hosting a wide variety of street performers throughout the year. Brattle Street itself is home to the Brattle Theater (a non-profit arthouse theater ) and the American Repertory Theater . The John F. Kennedy Memorial Park, one block further down JFK Street,

720-667: The northeast corner is the Statue of John Bridge , also known as The Puritan , by Thomas Ridgeway Gould . Slightly southeast of the center of the Common is a memorial to the American Civil War with a statue of Abraham Lincoln in a covered area near the base of the memorial. On top of the memorial is a statue of a soldier. Cambridge Common is also the site of an Irish Famine Memorial , dedicated on July 23, 1997, by then President of Ireland , Mary Robinson , and unveiled to an audience of 3,000 people. The Memorial sculpture

750-530: The show itself was recorded at the WBUR Studio in Boston ). Local tourism and business leaders likewise refer to the area colloquially as "Car Talk Plaza". The office's window, which faces the square, reads " Dewey Cheetham & Howe ", a reference to The Three Stooges . Though the former office is now a yoga studio, the window signage has remained. In the early 2020s, while redeveloping the Abbott Building,

780-511: The southeast (a few miles after crossing the Charles River from Boston at MIT ), and turns sharply to the north at the intersection, which is dominated by a large pedestrian space incorporating the current MBTA subway headhouse (entrance), an older subway headhouse building which formerly housed a newsstand, a visitor information kiosk, and a small open-air performance space ("The Pit"). Brattle Street and John F. Kennedy Street merge from

810-527: The southwest, joining Massachusetts Avenue at 1 Brattle Street, where another newsstand used to be located. The Harvard/MIT Cooperative Society main building forms the western streetwall at the intersection, along with a bank and some retail shops. The walled enclosure of Harvard Yard is adjacent, with Harvard University , Harvard Extension School , Harvard Art Museums , Semitic Museum , Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology , and Museum of Natural History just short walks away. Other institutions in

840-587: The subway and the buses. At the center of the Square is the old Harvard Square Subway Kiosk , which held a newsstand Out of Town News until its close in 2020. A public motion art installation, Lumen Eclipse , shows monthly exhibitions of local, national, and international artists. In the southwest of the neighborhood, on Mount Auburn St, stands the Igor Fokin Memorial. This memorial, created by sculptor Konstantin Simun , pays tribute not only to

870-463: The top drawer of her bureau at home for her mother to discover. The 1970 film Love Story , by the late Harvard University alumnus and Yale University professor of classics Erich Segal , takes place almost entirely in and around Harvard Square during its first two-thirds, while Harvard undergraduates Oliver Barrett and Jenny Cavalieri meet; finish college; get married; and Oliver goes to Harvard Law School while Jenny teaches school, living in

900-550: Was burned at the stake, and Mark was killed by hanging on gallows some ten yards away from the stake. His body was subsequently exhibited publicly for decades in Charlestown, such that even Paul Revere remembered passing by its site while on his famous ride. Phillis was later described by a newspaper as "the last recorded victim" of this punishment in New England. Legend has it that George Washington took command of

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