BlockBefore
Decorative drawing: a small American settlement seen from a low hill. Not a photograph of this place.

Cambridge, Massachusetts

46 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Cambridge City. It lies in ZIP code area 02139. It stands on Dana Hill. The Survey maps it on the Boston North quadrangle. 118,403 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 39 feet above sea level.

Cambridge within Middlesex County

Population over time

16 figures

Cambridge grew from 2,115 to 118,403 between 1790 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
17902,115
18002,453+338 (+16%)
18102,323-130 (-5%)
18203,295+972 (+42%)
18306,072+2,777 (+84%)
18408,409+2,337 (+38%)
185015,215+6,806 (+81%)
186026,060+10,845 (+71%)
187039,634+13,574 (+52%)
188052,669+13,035 (+33%)
189070,028+17,359 (+33%)
190091,886+21,858 (+31%)
1910104,839+12,953 (+14%)
2010105,162
2013107,289+2,127 (+2%)
2020118,403+11,114 (+10%)

Then and now

1893 to 1989

The same ground, surveyed 96 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Cambridge, surveyed 1989
Topographic sheet of Cambridge, surveyed 1893

Topographic sheets covering this place

46 sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires nearby

70 since 2015

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 70 fires within 5 miles of Cambridge between 2015 and 2020, burning about 105 acres in total. None started naturally. 27 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Arson/incendiarism27
Missing data/not specified/undetermined17
Debris and open burning10
Recreation and ceremony8
Smoking6
Equipment and vehicle use1
Misuse of fire by a minor1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
4 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
4 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
3 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
23 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
23 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
22 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
2 September 2018Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBROOKLINE
2 September 2017Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlQUINCY

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Middlesex County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 2,016 shown

Museums hold 2,016 specimens collected within 10 miles of Cambridge between 1898 and 1975: 897 Animalia, 615 Plantae, 440 Fungi, 27 Protozoa, 17 Bacteria, 12 Chromista, 8 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by ?, A B Seymour, A B. Proper and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Image SpeciesYear Collected by Where, as recorded
Specimen of Lysimachia × producta (A.Gray) FernaldLysimachia × producta (A.Gray) Fernald1900A. P. Chute
Specimen of Trientalis borealis Raf.Trientalis borealis Raf.1900A. P. Chute
Aglaospora profusa (Fr.) De Not.1898Collector unspecified
A photograph of the species Boletellus russellii, not of this specimenBoletellus russellii (Frost) E.-J.Gilbert1898H. Webster
A photograph of the species Boletus peckii, not of this specimenBoletus peckii Frost1898H. WebsterEdge of Reservation
A photograph of the species Boletus speciosus, not of this specimenBoletus speciosus Frost1898J. R. Webster
A photograph of the species Bulbostylis capillaris, not of this specimenBulbostylis capillaris var. crebra Fernald1898C. H. KnowltonBoston.
A photograph of the species Cantharellus cinnabarinus, not of this specimenCantharellus cinnabarinus (Schwein.) Schwein.1898not recordedNewton.
A photograph of the species Cantharellus infundibuliformis, not of this specimenCantharellus infundibuliformis (Scop.) Fr.1898not recordedMelrose.
A photograph of the species Chimaphila maculata, not of this specimenChimaphila maculata (L.) Pursh1898Nathaniel T. KidderMilton
A photograph of the species Cladonia coccifera, not of this specimenCladonia coccifera (L.) Willd.1898Francis P DanielsCambridge
A photograph of the species Acanthis flammea, not of this specimenAcanthis flammea flammea (Linnaeus, 1758)1900ZAPPEY, W RROSLINDALE

All 2,016 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries nearby

10 of 12 shown

The federal mineral resources record lists 12 workings within 5 miles of Cambridge: 10 plants, 2 past producers. 10 still produce. What was taken out: Iron, Lead, Tantalum, Niobium (Columbium). Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
(Facility) Vulcan Smelter--Chelsea, Ma.Copper, LeadPlant
C. J. MabardySand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Nrc Inc--Newton, Ma.Tantalum, Niobium (Columbium)Plant
Syncor Prdts Co--Malden, Ma.SilicaPlant
Us Gypsum Co--BostonGypsum-AnhydritePast Producer
Whittemore Prdts Inc--BostonPerlitePlant
(Facility) Cambridge Smelter CoLeadPlant
General Metals & Smelting--BostonLeadPlant
Industrial Serv. Centers--CambridgeIronPlant
Somerville Smelting Co.LeadPlant

Every working recorded in Middlesex County

Storms nearby

16 since 2006

The National Weather Service names Cambridge in 16 storm reports between 2006 and 2023: 7 thunderstorm wind, 3 flood, 3 flash flood, 2 lightning. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2008LightningCambridge$250,000Lightning struck the roof of a house on Pearl Street, setting it on fire.
April 2010LightningCambridge$150,000Lightning struck a building on Franklin Street, knocking part of the building into the street.
August 2018FloodCambridge$15,000At 6:46 AM, Memorial Drive in Cambridge was flooded and impassable at Massachusetts Avenue. Multiple cars were trapped in floodwaters.
September 2017Thunderstorm WindCambridge$8,000At 1034 AM EST, an amateur radio operator reported a tree down on a car between Howard Street and Western Avenue in Cambridge.
May 2020Thunderstorm WindCambridge$7,500In Cambridge, a power pole was down on Cambridge Street.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindCambridge$5,000At 430 PM EST, a tree and wires were brought down on a car on Pearl Street in Cambridge.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindCambridge$5,000At 430 PM EST, a tree and wires were brought down on a car on Pearl Street in Cambridge.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindCambridge$5,000Trees and wires on Belmont and Windsor Streets were downed by thunderstorm winds.
October 2006FloodCambridge$5,000Significant urban flooding was reported in Cambridge.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindCambridge$1,000At 422 PM EST, a tree was brought down on Harvard Street in Cambridge. A wind gust to 63 MPH was measured in East Cambridge.
July 2023Flash FloodCambridge-In Cambridge, there was major flooding on the corner of Green St and Western Ave.
May 2023FloodCambridge-In Cambridge, Vassar Street, near MIT, was flooded and impassable per campus law enforcement. Report relayed via amateur radio.
July 2018Flash FloodCambridge-At 5:29 PM EST the Memorial Ave underpass under Massachusetts Avenue was flooded and impassable.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindCambridge-At 422 PM EST, a 63 mph wind gust was measured by a mesonet station in East Cambridge.
July 2013Flash FloodCambridge-Main Street in Cambridge was closed due to flooding.
July 2008HailCambridge-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Middlesex County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Old Cambridge0.6 miles46
Somerville0.9 miles46
Spring Hill0.9 miles46
Cambridgeport1.2 miles46
Avon Hill1.3 miles46
East Somerville1.3 miles46
East Cambridge1.5 miles46
Winter Hill1.5 miles46

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on CambridgeAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q49111The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 617365. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.