Cambridge is a moderate-sized, dense, and old urban university city in the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts, in Middlesex County. It sits at an average elevation of around 40 feet above sea level. Cambridge was established in 1630 as the town of Newetowne on the north shore of the Charles River. Cambridge is a port city, named early on as Newetowne in the 1600s by English explorers and settlers to the region by Puritin settlers financed by the Massachusetts Bay Company. Its name was changed to Cambridge in 1638 in honor of the University of Cambridge in England. Cambridge was incorporated as a city in 1846. Middlesex County was incorporated in 1636.
Cambridge currently has a population of about 101,355 people (2000), fifth in size in the state. Cambridge citizens are composed of 68.1% Caucasians, 7.4% Hispanics, 11.9% Asian, and 11.9% Black. The median household income for Cambridge residents is $47,979 and the per capita income is $31,156. Cambridge is home to two famous universities, Harvard University (pictured below), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Tufts University.
Cambridge, other than the home to Native Americans prior to the arrival of the French fur traders and English explorers, was first settled as an English investment enterprize, manned primarily by persecuted Christians who did not conform to the Church of England doctrine. Cambridge became an important port for emigrants primarily from England and trade during the late 1600s through the early 1900s.
Three highways pass through or terminate in Cambridge, State Routes 2, 16, and 28 (McGrath Highway), and the Massachusetts Turnpike is just outside the city. Additional information about Cambridge can be found at Cambridge Info and at the Official Cambridge site.
