Learn about where you live, your neighborhood, or the place you rent or own with our comprehensive guide to researching property. We have made nearly all our housing and property research material available online so that you can discover the history of your home from the comfort of your home.
The Cambridge Historical Commission has a file on every address in the city, including photographs. Contact them for more in-depth research questions.
Research deeds online through the Middlesex South Registry of Deeds.
This database allows you to search any residential and business address in Cambridge for current data. Each property includes a photograph, sketch, current owners, square footage, assessment value, zoning information, property class, and building style. Every property links to a comparable sales search, a GIS map, and a PDF map.
Cambridge was one of 239 American cities that the Home Owner’s Loan Corporation (HOLC) surveyed in the 1930s to create "residential security maps,” indicating the level of security for real-estate investments.
The areas outlined in green were affluent and considered the most desirable for lending purposes. The Blue areas were considered “still desirable;” the yellow areas were labeled as “declining;” and the red areas were considered the most risky investments for banks. The areas that were “redlined” tended to be black neighborhoods.
These redlining maps enforced racial segregation and urban decay throughout the United States until Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975 began to change lending practices. Redlining in Cambridge affected the predominantly African American neighborhoods of Riverside, Cambridgeport, and the Port as well as the immigrant neighborhoods of East Cambridge. View Cambridge's map.
Christopher Hail’s Cambridge Buildings and Architects
This online database of all Cambridge buildings, architects, builders, and streets is a great first stop for basic facts about a building.
Cambridge City Directories, 1848-1972
City directories contain a wealth of information about people, businesses, local government, and clubs and civic organizations. Names are listed alphabetically and by street address. Cambridge businesses are listed by industry. Please note: you must search within individual volumes. Directories were not published annually after 1922.
Poll Lists (Men and Women), 1904, 1932-1947
These books are voter lists; men and women are published separately. Names are listed by ward and street.
Historic Cambridge Newspaper Collection, 1846-2015
This collection contains the following eight newspaper titles: Cambridge Chronicle, Cambridge Press, Cambridge Tribune, Cambridge Sentinel, Cambridge Express, Cambridge Tab, Fax, and Boston Herald American's Cambridge Rambler. Search for your address in quotations. For example, “449 Broadway.”
Police Listings and Street Listings, 1972-Present
These voter lists are published annually by the City of Cambridge. Names are listed by ward and street so it is helpful to know the address or neighborhood of the person you are researching. To use this resource, please contact the Cambridge Room at archives@cambridgema.gov.
Cole Directories, 1989-2017
This collection contains a street address directory, telephone directory, and office building directory. Names are listed by street so it is necessary to know the address of the person you are researching. Please note: some years are missing. To use this resource, please contact the Cambridge Room at archives@cambridgema.gov.
Atlases, 1833-1930
These atlases show Cambridge property owners, street names, and structures on land plots. They show how Cambridge property and neighborhoods have changed over time.
Atlascope
This easy-to-use tool from the Boston Public Library's Leventhal Map Center allows you to explore properties in Cambridge (and metropolitan Boston) by comparing atlases by year.
Mapjunction.com
Compare any two maps from Boston, Cambridge, and environs to maps of today. This resource has over 400 maps and aerial photographs dating back to 1630. Type in any Cambridge address to view how a property has changed over centuries.
Historical Cambridge City Viewer
View any property in Cambridge from a historic aerial photograph. In 1947, the city of Cambridge began using professional flyover photographers to photograph the entire city from above. This resource covers the years the city took flyover photographs: 2003, 1995, 1978, 1969, 1947. The resource also includes the 1916 atlas of Cambridge as well as the 1865 map to give historical perspective. You can move between maps and see how properties have changed over the decades. Click on the Historical map and enter the address.
Cambridge in 3-D
This interactive resource allows you to a view a current map of Cambridge in 3-D.
Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge by the Cambridge Historical Commission
This six-volume set is an excellent socio economic and architectural history from the founding of Cambridge in 1630 to the mid-twentieth century of the five geographic areas of Cambridge. These volumes are also available in the Library’s circulating collection and can be requested with a Cambridge or Minuteman library card.
Please note that the Cambridgeport volume includes the area bounded by Massachusetts Avenue to the south, the Somerville line to the north, Inman Square to the west, and Kendall Square to the east.
Neighborhood Oral Histories
Sarah Boyer’s Oral History Books
Sarah Boyer, the oral historian for the city, published four books throughout her 20-year effort collecting interviews in various Cambridge neighborhoods:
These books are a great way to get a sense of how the following neighborhoods have changed in the late 19th Century to the present. These books are also available in the Library’s circulating collection and can be requested with a Cambridge or Minuteman library card. The Cambridge Room also has the Sarah Boyer Oral History Collection, which includes interviews, transcripts, and photographs from her project.
Mid Cambridge Oral History Project
From the Heart of Cambridge: A Neighborhood Portrait
This book is the result of a series of oral histories conducted by the Longfellow Oral history project that began in 2004. The book is also available in the Library’s circulating collection and can be requested with a Cambridge or Minuteman library card.
To use these resources, please contact the Cambridge Room at archives@cambridgema.gov.
The Cambridge Room is open during the following hours and by appointment:
Monday 5 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Tuesday 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Wednesday 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Thursday 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Call to speak with Cambridge Room staff at 617-349-7757
