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Mid Cambridge, the area studied for this second report of the Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge, is neither as cohesive nor as homogeneous as East Cambridge, subject of the first report. No traditional name exists for this part of the city that lies between the three older centers -- Old Cambridge, East Cambridge, and Cambridgeport. Mid Cambridge is bounded on the west and south by the long arc of Massachusetts Avenue running from Porter Square to Central Square and on the north and east by the Somerville line and Prospect Street. The limits chosen define an area unified by many historic and geographic factors and differentiated from the contiguous parts of Cambridge by present and past land use and development.Three separate neighborhoods exist within the larger unit (Fig. 1). The first of these, Dana Hill, owes its name to the family that owned the land in the eighteenth century. Topographically the hill lies between Trowbridge and Lee Streets and between Massachusetts Avenue and Broadway. The Survey has included a larger area, bounded by Quincy Street on the west, Prospect Street on the east, Massachusetts Avenue on the south, and Kirkland Street on the north. Similar history, patterns of growth, and present use justify the extension of Dana Hill.The second neighborhood is called Shady Hill after the estate that dominated the area until the end of the nineteenth century.The boundaries are Kirkland Street, Harvard University, and the Somerville line. The late conversion of the area from a private estate to a neighborhood of private homes imposed a pattern of growth and development different from that found in the other two sections.The third and final subdivision has the least identity as a neighborhood. The survey calls it the Oxford Street area after the major unifying factor — the street that runs parallel to Massachusetts Avenue between Kirkland Street and Beacon Street, Somerville. The Oxford Street area is bounded by Roseland Street to the north and by a line following Everett, Hammond, and Museum Streets to the south. The other two boundaries are Massachusetts Avenue and the Somerville line.

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