Cambridge in the 1880s
James Garfield was assassinated in 1881 and Chester Arthur, Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison followed in turn. Immigration from southern and eastern Europe rose sharply and the railroads adopted standard time zones in 1883. The Brooklyn Bridge opened in 1883 and Chicago put up the first tall building framed in metal in 1885. What Cambridge kept from the decade leans to Queen Anne style, the label the records put on 5 of these stops.
Every stop carries a construction date in the 1880s. The route covers 10 of them and runs 1.9 miles end to end. Of the stops, 2 are National Historic Landmarks.
Distances are straight lines between the coordinates in the National Park Service Register data, so the walk on the street will be longer. Nobody has walked or checked this as a route, and a listing does not mean a place is open to visitors. Stops last changed Oct 16, 2026.
All walking tours in Cambridge → · Every listing in Cambridge →
Map
Coordinates come from the National Park Service National Register spatial data, or from Wikidata where the spatial data has no point. The solid line joins the stops in walking order and is not a street route. Listings with a restricted address in the Register are never mapped and never become stops. Data refreshed November 02, 2026.
Walking order
- 1Richard Hapgood House382--392 Harvard St.Building · built 1889 · listed 1986start
- 2The Stanstead19 Ware St.Building · built 1887 · listed 19860.2 mi from stop 1
- 3Brattle Hall40 Brattle St.Building · built 1889 · listed 19820.4 mi from stop 2
- 4Mary Fisk Stoughton HouseNHL90 Brattle St.Building · built 1882 · listed 19890.3 mi from stop 3
- 5Reginald A. Daly HouseNHL23 Hawthorn St.Building · built 1885 · listed 1976150 ft from stop 4
- 6Edwin Abbot House1 Follen St.Building · built 1889 · listed 19790.3 mi from stop 5
- 7Col. Thomas Wentworth Higginson House29 Buckingham St.Building · built 1880 · listed 19820.4 mi from stop 6
- 8Robert Frost House29-35 Brewster St.Building · built 1884 · listed 19820.2 mi from stop 7
- 9Howe House6 Appleton St.Building · built 1887 · listed 1983372 ft from stop 8
- 10Lowell School25 Lowell St.Building · built 1883 · listed 19820.2 mi from stop 9
1.9 straight-line miles over 9 legs.
Taking it along
- Download the route as GPXFor a handheld GPS or a phone app
- Open all 10 stops in Google MapsSet the mode to walking once it opens
- Open the first stop in Apple MapsThe Apple Maps web link carries one destination, so this is stop 1 only
Other walks in Cambridge
- Greek Revival houses in Cambridge15 stops · 1.1 milesGreek Revival buildings carry low pitched gables, heavy cornices and columned porticoes modelled on Greek temples. The Cambridge examples on this route went up between 1833 and 1853.
- Queen Anne houses in Cambridge10 stops · 2.3 milesQueen Anne is a late Victorian manner of irregular plans, steep roofs, turrets, bay windows and wrapping porches. The Cambridge examples on this route went up between 1866 and 1891.
- Colonial Revival architecture in Cambridge12 stops · 2.4 milesColonial Revival reworks the symmetry, shutters and classical doorways of American colonial building. The Cambridge examples on this route went up between 1701 and 1907.
- Federal architecture in Cambridge10 stops · 2.4 milesFederal architecture is a restrained classical manner with flat wall surfaces, fanlights over the door and delicate ornament around openings and mantels. The Cambridge examples on this route went up between 1808 and 1825.
- Houses and mansions in Cambridge15 stops · 1.2 milesThe route links houses built between 1833 and 1889. Many are private homes and the stops are meant to be seen from the sidewalk.
Local history books for Cambridge
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Guidebooks to historic places and travel in Massachusetts
Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject heading or by title.